PRICELESS
SPRING 2015
GL Vol. 4, Issue I
• Earth Guardians Interview • Women’s Woodstock Cycling Grand Prix • Protecting Upstate Watershed • • Vassar Powerhouse Theatre
A free journal written by young people for young-minded people
TOC/MastheaD CONTENTS Restaurant Review: Shindig .......................................... p. 8 Powerhouse Theatre Program................................ p. 10-11 Advice: Ask Sushi/Dear She.................................... p. 12-13 Fiction: Moonlight ........................................................ p. 14 Fiction: Atyical ....................................................... p. 16-17 Earth Guardians ....................................................... p. 18-19 Saving Our Water ................................................... p. 20-21 Cover Story: Women’s Bike Race........................... p. 22-26 Evolution of Cars............................................................ p. 27 Interview: Lenny Kislin ......................................... p. 28-29 TV Review: Gravity Falls............................................... p. 30 Review: The Omega Man.............................................. p. 31 Awareness ................................................................. p. 32-33 Poetry ......................................................................... p. 34-35 Gap at Glen Brook .................................................. p. 36-37 Genius/Madman: Paul Green ...................................... p. 38 The Art of Michelle Moughan .................................... p. 39 Interview with Greg Gattine................................... p. 40-41 Wildlife Babies .......................................................... p. 42-43 Travels/Memories ......................................................... p. 44 Library Calendar ........................................................... p. 45
EDITORIAL
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher..................................... Cathy McNamara Art Director...............................................................Grey Ivor Morris Executive Editor..................................Monique Winum Martindale Senior Copy Editor......................................................... Julie Schmidt Editorial Assistant.....................................................Shannon Meyers
SALES
Marketing & Sales Director.......................................Carolyn Handel AWARENESS New Paltz Youth Sales Pilot Program ............ Youth
DISTRIBUTION: 7,000 COPIES. Throughout the Hudson Valley and NYC, Published by GoodLife Publishing 20 Mountainview Avenue Woodstock, NY 12498 ONLINE VERSION: GoodLifeYouthJournal.com
SUBMISSION INFO: GoodLife accepts work done by young people aged 10 to 20 and pays $$ for accepted work. Deadline: Winter: Nov 9th, Spring: Feb 9th, Summer: May 9th, Fall: Aug 18th • Permission: Need a parental email if you are younger than 16 (giving permission to publish your work & receive payment). Need address. • Topics Examples: Lifestyle, music, book & movie reviews, sports & fitness, political & environmental. • Writing strategies: Reflecting, Reporting, Explaining, Arguing, Opinion and Humor! Length 200 to 500 words Be CREATIVE and send work that you would be proud to have published. All articles must be appropriate for ages 10 to 100! Work not used is stored for another issue. Send submissions as Word documents to: Goodlifejournal@gmail.com Thanks, Cathy McNamara (Publisher) (845) 332-3353
Open Call for Young Writers, Photographers, Cartoonists and Webmasters! Volunteer and learn more about publishing. www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 5
Publisher’s Letter SPONSORS WHO SUPPORT US
Thank You!
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Make Trails
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hat is good exercise, more economical, and a non-polluting way to get around? My mom made a rad choice one day in the 70s. She decided to honor her environmental beliefs and stop using a car and switch to her bike instead. She said “Terre Haute is small enough to ride just about anywhere you need to go so why lug two tons of steel around?” From then on I too became a bike rider. The VW bus sat unused except for the road trips across the US in the summers. As years passed by, my mom actually became known as the “Bike Lady” professor. We rode together ...being a teen I remained incognito and never was labeled! Can you Imagine? NOT! Biking would be there through my developmental and emotional phases of youth. I broke up with a boyfriend on my bike! We met ...it was kind of dramatic. Then as I rode off, he raced and tried to catch up with me,… but I just pedaled faster and left him in the dust. Don’t worry, later on we stayed friends. I had a near death experience another time when someone in a parked car opened their door as I rode passed, sending me somersaulting into the middle of the road. Luckily there was no on coming traffic and I lived to ride again! I definitely got to know myself more when my bike was stolen! I was pretty upset! A few weeks had gone by when I saw it parked in front of the post office (with a bag hanging from the handle bars). I had enough common sense to ask a passerby to stand with me because I was going to confront whom ever walked out. A young man came out and I asked “Is this your bike because I lost one just like it!” That’s all it took! “No I have never seen this bike before” he replied, as he grabbed the plastic bag from the handlebars I firmly held with my hands. I proved to myself that I had guts! In this issue get ready for the Woodstock Women’s Cycling Grand Prix (May 2, starting in Woodstock going through Phoenicia and Saugerties!) Connect with Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and the Earth Guardians environmental Youth Movement. Read opinions about protecting Upstate NY’s bountiful water and a need to reducing our use of water sold in plastic bottles!
ON THE COVER: Mountain bike photo by Jennifer Milby of Michael Denise.
Summer issue coming next!
Deadline May 9th. • Solar Energy • Hiking & Outdoors
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this magazine do not reflect those of the publishers, nor are we responsible for the products and services advertised.
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RESTURANT REVIEW
Shindig
By Finn Doering, age 12 http://sharpfinnsoup.wordpress.com/
T
he newest restaurant in Woodstock is located right in the middle of town with huge windows facing the village green. It has a great cozy ambience and a cool bar with interesting tiles and leather stools and old-fashioned mix matched chandeliers. The owner wanted to keep the design comfortable and very “Woodstocky.” The idea for this place was Lari Lang’s, a native Woodstocker. She remembered it as a sandwich shop when she was young and she wanted to continue the idea, but expand the menu. Her partners are Ryan, Jenny, Lukas and Allison. The number one recommended item on the menu is the Grilled Cheese. I would say it was one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches I have ever had! It has homemade fig jam and arugula - which made it sweet and spicy - and three cheeses: Swiss, cheddar and American... and it’s toasted with butter for a crispy, delicious, gooey experience. Believe me I was a little scared to stray from my usual burger, but the grilled cheese was recommended and I might order it again next time! It also comes with a small tomato soup which is creamy and delicious but the small cup keeps you from dunking your grilled cheese, so I wish it were bigger. The Shindig Burger is grass-fed Angus beef with English cheddar, onion chutney, “melted” tomato (grilled tomato) and a smokey chipotle-type sauce. It’s huge and juicy and served on a brioche bun. There is also an amazing sounding veggie burger that is made of beets and brown rice! And you can get a gluten-free bun. My sister had truffled mac and cheese, which has curly pasta. The truffles are not too overpowering, but some may find it heavy on the sauce. She also had the fried Brussel sprouts which were crispy with a little sweetness, with Parmesan and lemon, which was a nice surprise. I forgot to mention the sweet and spicy pickles that come with the sandwiches. They are so good! For dessert I tried the cookies and milk which have a good assortment, like the super sweet white chocolate macadamia and chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin. Overall this is great “homey” comfort food using local, organic and seasonal ingredients. If you’re lucky enough to get a table, you’re lucky because it’s a really good meal!
Photo by Dylan McNamara
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www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 9
Theatre
By Jenna Adamek, age 17
Photos by Roger Yerdon
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Laurel Jones (center), Sarin West (far right), and others in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
ne might think that if a person had spent 17 years of their life living in an area, that person would know about the standard town festivals and events–especially if those events attracted major stage, film, and TV stars. Unless that person was me. I grew up in Poughkeepsie only 10 minutes from Vassar College, but I spent many years in the dark about the school, and especially about the Powerhouse Theatre Program. I would always drive past signs during the summer that said “Powerhouse Theatre Main Stage Now Running” on the main gate, but I thought that it was some kind of private or school-only event. It wasn’t until I got heavily involved in theatre that I realized what a big deal the Powerhouse program is. I was doing some Internet browsing one day and saw that the Powerhouse program was mentioned in a Playbill.com article. I saw the many famed alumni and supporters of the program, most notably Meryl Streep, Josh Radnor, and John Patrick Shanley. Then I read about their Apprentice Training Program, and saw that they had a directing program. The Powerhouse program is run through Vassar College in conjunction with New York Stage and Film (NYSAF), a theatre production company located in New York City. They have both professional “Main Stage” productions as well as a training program. The apprentice program is open to actors, directors, and playwrights, and gives them the opportunity to train in a conservatory-style program for five weeks. As an aspiring director, I knew how hard it was to find good directing opportunities like these, and this one was in my own backyard! I
decided to apply. I visited the website often, eager for an application form to be released. I talked to anyone and everyone involved in the program, asking questions and gathering information. It was truly an exciting experience. I had never applied for something of this nature, and it seemed like the perfect point in my life to go for it. Even more exciting was that after going through the application process, I got the acceptance email and the description of how our time would be spent for the summer. Walking onto the campus, I knew immediately this was going to be one stimulating summer. At our first orientation meeting, the only advice we were given by the staff members was to “Be Open” throughout our experience. Be open to new things, different practices, people, anything. Keeping that in mind really allowed me to have a fruitful experience. That first weekend, we were given the standard welcoming talks, such as housekeeping rules and safety procedures and codes of conduct. But we were also randomly placed into groups and given the task to create a play in less than three days. It was like a giant “WELCOME!!!” and a sign of what we were in for the next five weeks. From then on, the average day for a directing apprentice started with a trip to the “Decee” dining hall for breakfast and then off to either Kenyon or “The Mug” for class. We took classes in stage composition, script analysis, acting, movement, and sound painting. Each class was 90 minutes long. Acting and playwriting apprentices would take similar--if not the same--classes on the same schedule. We would break for an hour lunch, and after that, the day got interesting. Each
“It is an intense experience, but one of the best you may ever have.”
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Theatre of the directing and writing apprentices were assigned to shadow multiple shows or projects, either in the apprentice community or the professional NYSAF productions. After lunch, the directors and writers all broke off into their different projects for blocks of rehearsal from 2-5 and 7-10 P.M., and the acting apprentices went into rehearsal for their own shows. Depending on the project, you were either highly involved or observing. However, nothing you were doing was passive. The Powerhouse staff made sure that each apprentice was getting something out of being in each room, and the staff would hold round table discussions with us at the end of each week to hear about what we learning in our shadowing assignments. Then the nights would consist of whatever anyone was up for: late walks to the local pizzeria, line memorization, card games in the common room, piano jam sessions in the parlor, or scene rehearsal. The important thing is that no matter what anyone was doing, each of us were always welcomed. You are probably thinking, “Wow, what a busy schedule!” And it was. However, among all the busyness came a moment of revelation. I thought to myself, “If I can survive this conservatory program, this tiring and grueling period, and still actually enjoy what I am doing, I know in my gut that I can make it as a director.” The Powerhouse community is such a fantastic one to be a part of. It is a place of knowledge–to expand your knowledge of theatre and enlighten you about new techniques, styles, and methods. It is a place of creativity–with the NYSAF mission statement devoted to developing new work, one of the most amazing things is being able to watch a play grow and develop and change over that short workshop period. It is a place of opportunity–the opportunity to meet people, to learn something new, to try something different. But most importantly, it is a place of openness. The community at Powerhouse is one that will accept you for whoever you are, encourage you to challenge traditional ideas, and help you learn more than you thought was physically possible in five weeks (and then some). It is an intense experience, but one of the best you may ever have…one that you will carry with you for years to come.
Akaina Ghosh (center) and the rest of the company of “The Seagull,” one of the apprentice company productions. www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 11
Advice
Ask Sushi
Fluffy Advice by Griffin Stewart, Brooklyn Age: 14
H
ello and welcome to another Ask Sushi with me, your lovable and fluffy dog, Sushi. I have had a very eventful week. I think I have finally mastered poker. I have got a perfect poker face. No one can tell if I am smiling or laughing. No one can even tell if I am there. I also have taken up a new hobby: wild mushroom identification. Just the other day I found a really rare one - in the Galapagos Islands, of course. It was called “The Flower Bud of Death.” It’s a very poisonous mushroom that looks like a flower. But enough about me. Time to answer some Sushi questions. Chicken. Question Number 1, from Rachel Marco Havens: What does the term Economic Development mean to you? A: Really? I don’t know. I’m a dog. I am a dog. (Deep dog sigh.) Well, I have looked up “Economic Development” and basically, in my own doggie way, it means to me, the growth of an area’s community via politicians and the public, creating a better standard and usually improving human life. And now for my Sushi wisdom to you. I can tell that you are pretty worried about Niagara Bottling and even my pack members are worried about it. It’s a BIG DEAL. They tried to swindle us out of our delicious water under the mask of economic development as their ticket to our water. And that’s obviously not good. You can only worry so much. And for now they have been pushed back. And that’s my Sushi wisdom to you.
I am extremely small (it’s a breed thing.) All this garbage just really gets up in my grill, like literally it’s right up in my face. And you know if the world became a greener place the garbage would not be there. And so here’s my Sushi wisdom to you. A good way to be greener is just the simple things: it may not seem like it makes a difference but it really does. Take shorter showers. Make sure garbage goes into trash receptacles. Recycle. Don’t let your dog poop in that grass, man. I don’t. You shouldn’t. And that’s my Sushi wisdom to you.
ask a dog these questions unless you want to be cheered up. Let’s just be honest here, I am a dog and dogs are good mental support. So, let me give you some good mental support. When you are really worried about something and you did stop it but you realize how bad it really is, all you can do is do your best at the end of the day and sometimes your best is the best but we all have to keep working on it and take it one day at a time. You can’t worry about the future if it isn’t here yet. And that’s my Sushi wisdom to you.
Question Number 3. Another one from Rachel Marco Havens: Do you know where the water comes from in your water bottle? A: I am starting to notice a pattern here. Well, I don’t know because I don’t use water bottles. My pack members have a purification vessel in which water goes in and clean water comes out. But I do know where my tap water comes from, the Ashooockeen Reservoir. I have walked there in the past and it’s a serene sight full of beauty and wonder. And here is my Sushi wisdom to you: Lots and lots of plastic builds up in the oceans and ponds and rivers and it’s time for a change. My pack members use Nalgene water bottles which are reusable and washable and don’t leach those C.A.T.s, (I think that’s what they’re called) into the water. You can, too! And that’s my Sushi wisdom to you.
Good bye, my furry friends - and don’t forget to stay fluffy! Send questions (attn: Sushi) at our Website: goodlifeyouthjournal.com!
Last question. I buy bottled water because it’s so convenient and it’s good to drink lots of water! But my friends say I shouldn’t buy bottled water. In fact, Catskill Mountain Pizza in Woodstock just decided to STOP selling any drinks in plastic bottles in their restaurant for environmental reasons. What’s so bad about bottled water? Isn’t it better then tap water? A: Well, for one, every time a bottle of water is it heated up, say, in those metal animals with those weird rubbery things on the bottom that go really fast, C.A.T.s leach out into your water bottle and do bad things to your body, like not being able to eat chicken. Oh no! And also, just do the math. If one person drinks two bottles of water a day every day while they are out, then that is two empty bottles of water into the trash every day for every person in a town or city or country, Next question. Do you have any advice for that’s a lot of bottles, even for just a month. living a greener life style? Are you an eco dog? That’s gotta have a lot of zeroes. Plus, those A: Yes, I am a green dog. Let me tell you, I bottles get into the ocean and choke out all walk through the streets of New York and those chickens. And here’s my Sushi wisdom you know, I see a lot of garbage. And since for you: sometimes in life you shouldn’t just Page 12 • www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com
Eco-Canine
Sushi is an ecologically aware canine and proud of it! He knows that pets (as well as their human companions) cannot survive without water.
Dear She
Advice
By Jessi Putnam, age 21 (A SUNY NEW Paltz thesis project)
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i I’m Jessi! I am the creator and designer of Dear She. Like so many girls, I developed a poor perception of my body very early on. I went on thinking it was normal to feel that way until my senior year of high school, where I finally started to address it through art in my AP Art class. This really opened me up to different methods of learning to work through my issues with my self image. I began journaling, writing down my feelings, writing poetry, whatever inspired me. This act of therapeutic writing is really where Dear She came from. I wanted other girls to be able to have the same freeing experience I had. I wanted to give them a safe space to express themselves, to say anything they needed to say…to just be themselves. And I wanted them to be able to learn from each other. I hope Dear She can be that outlet for you, and I hope you join us on our journey. I can not wait to hear from you! Love, Me. Dear She, Remember when you were in elementary school and didn’t care what others thought of you? You were unique and so unafraid of what others would say --- you wore neon orange shoes everyday and cut your hair as short as a boy’s, you refused to wear dresses and you refused to allow others to mock you. You were ridiculed, but you didn’t care. You just wanted to be yourself. I wish that I always had that strength to be myself and be unafraid of what the world said about me. But middle school came and you lost all that. You realized pretty quickly that you had to fit in --- so you grew your hair out and started wearing what everyone else wore. You stopped playing chess and reading all day long in order to become what the world said you should be. You tried so hard to crush that amazing bit of individuality you had, and it sucked. But now, you’re in college. Now, you are finally learning again that it’s okay to be yourself completely.. Don’t let the constant fear of what others think of you stop you from being the amazing person that you are. Go join the school book club, join chess club, wear whatever you want and cut off your hair. Most importantly, do it all and don’t give a second thought to people judging you. Be yourself , love yourself, and don’t let anyone bring you down! Love, me. Age: 18 Dear She, Amidst so much uncertainty, I can understand your urge to plunge into food. Food is safety, food is reliability, food is love. Food is an escape from all the confusion and all the pain. Food is joy. Amidst so much judgment, I can understand your urge to restrict your diet. Only organic, no preservatives, no wheat, no dairy, no added sugar, low glycemic index, must be raw, vegan, whole food or I will freak out. Control is safety, control is reliability, control is love. Control helps you avoid all the confusion and all the pain. Control is protection. It’s okay to swing from one extreme to the other. You’re dealing with a lot. It’s ok to be a little extreme. Give yourself room to be you, room to feel pain, and you will notice the extremes naturally sway back to center. Balance. Love and Compassion. It’s okay. Forgiveness. You are human and you are supposed to make mistakes and everything is a learning experience. Age: 19 You can read more “Dear She” and even submit your own letters on Jessi’s blog at dearshe.org. www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 13
Art
Moonlight: My Fish, My Teacher
Story and illustration by Miriam John, Age 12
I
once had a Betta fish (Siamese fighting fish) named Moonlight, and I loved him very much. He loved me back, I am completely sure. I could feel it.
But if you look up fish online, the “experts” say that, “Fish can’t love! They can feel greed, but they cannot love!” This confused me, because I FELT, with my whole being, that my fish loved me! How do
“Fish can’t love! They can feel greed, but they cannot love!” the experts know the other way? We surely would not know fish as well as fish know themselves, so if we cannot speak Fish, how do WE know how they feel? The answer seems simple: we must be just guessing. If you are talking with someone from a different country, who speaks a different language than you, you can only guess what they are trying to say! But if you learn their language, you can be certain. So I set off to learn my fish’s language. I found that an animal’s language is not sounds, it is feelings. Their language is rooted in where they come from, what they look like, what they act like, and if you can get to know the species well enough, or a particular individual of the species, you can start to know their language. That’s what I did with Moonlight. Soon we could talk to each other! One day, I asked Moonlight if he was OK with traveling to school with me. He said, “I love you, so YES, I want to go with you!” I brought him to school. I kept bringing him to school, but one day I was brought to School Meeting (my school was a free democratic school) and told by the School Meeting that Moonlight was stressed by being brought to school so much. I did not understand, because he was my fish and he had said he was OK with going to school. Now people were telling me that my fish MUST be stressed, just because the internet said so. And this was not just any school. This school’s philosophy was that children should have freedom and should be treated as individuals. Why Page 14 • www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com
weren’t fish the same? The school that had such strong beliefs against mainstream CHILD care was going to exactly the same kind of mainstream FISH care for advice! The school had no respect for the fact that my INDIVIDUAL fish was OK with going to school, even if the majority of fish would get stressed. Are fish all like machines that don’t have individual personalities, just because they have small brains? I think not. I think that not having a complicated brain would make you LESS like a machine, not more. You wouldn’t have to be processing information all the time, so you would have more time to just be yourself! So anyway, the school banned my fish from school because they said they “knew more about fish than I did, and my fish did not want to go to school”. This is the same kind of thing that starts all kinds of problems between human cultures. The “dominant” culture that has more resources assumes that they know everything about the other culture. With this assumption, they refuse to learn from the people of the culture themselves, because they think that they already know everything. I think a perfect example of this kind of thing is with Native Americans and the people that “conquered” them. If someone gets it stuck in their head that they already know “what’s right” then they can’t learn any more. Another thing I think is that if fish don’t have such big heads that things can get stuck in, they must not have as many things stuck in their heads, which means that FISH might be more open to learning than we are! So, after my journey with Moonlight, I have come to the conclusion that fish can indeed learn, love, think, and feel just as well as we can. They care about where they belong and who they are, not just in a general way, but in an individual way, too.
www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 15
Fiction
By Mimi Ngo, age 17
Atypical
E
veryone knows February 14th marks Valentine’s Day -or make it question like how a mother would talk to Singles Awareness Day for those without significant others her five year old son. to be cheesy with. Typically, the hallmark holiday consists “Who said I wanted any? I think you’re just wasting your of balloons, bouquets, hearts, and pink and red colored time to be honest. Just buy some chocolate from Walmart and boxes filled with sweets or jewelry. melt it into different shapes and call it a day,” he scoffed, pullOf course, Valentine’s Day didn’t technically have to be about ro- ing over a stool from who knows where to sit at the island. “You don’t mance and love. She didn’t seem to think so, anyway. Apparently in even have to make the chocolate into different shapes since it doesn’t other countries, such as those in Asia, St. Valentine’s even matter once it’s in your stomach.” Day was also a day for showing one’s appreHad he no appreciation for intrinsic outcomes? ciation towards those of the opposite sex, “I think it’s too late to save you, child.” She shook her head in faux whether he was one’s brother or friend. sadness. He rolled his eyes and continued to fool around with his Thus, it wasn’t only for romantic love, phone. but also for platonic love. So girls usually She threw a spoon at him with every intention of hitting him only gave small gifts to their brothers and male to have him dodge and glare at her. friends they were grateful to. And despite Nothing was said after that as she continued to make her own what her boyfriend believed, she was homemade chocolate. She did an overview of all the people she was a very appreciative person who algoing to give chocolate to, counting all the people off with her fingers. ways took care to return to those Six fingers stared back at her and she nodded her head as the math who have helped her in some shape calculated in her head. She was planning on giving chocolate to her or form. older brother, her three male friends, her old-crush-now-friend, “Can you hand me the milk?” and possibly her insufferable boyfriend as well. She wrote the she asked, looking at said boynames on a piece of paper and continued to work on the next friend. He was casually leaning batch while the previous cooled. on the island with his elbow Her boyfriend glanced over the island at the pawhile playing on his phone, actper and frowned when he noticed she had ing as though he hadn’t heard her. written her old-crush-now-friend’s name Typical. “Milk. Now,” she demandon it. “Why are you giving him chocoed, pointing to the carton of milk, late?” he asked out of curiosity, not exwhich just happened to be situated actly content with the idea. to his right. “Why should I not? He’s my “Nope. No can do; I don’t serve friend is he not?” she asked, miximpolite people, Miss.” ing the ingredients in her purple So that’s how he was going to mixing bowl. play it. “But he’s also your old She rolled her eyes, “S’il vous crush,” he said, stating the plait?” While she could always trek obvious. all the way around the perimeter of the She shrugged, not seerectangular island to grab the carton of ing the problem, “Yeah, so? milk herself, the journey seemed as time What about it?” consuming as the wordiness of this very “Maybe he might get the sentence. She certainly wasn’t going to take wrong idea.” the time to walk all the way around, so be“Oh, geez. Are you acing proper would just have to do. tually being ‘jelly?’” she Her boyfriend simply blinked at her casulooked at him incredually as if he had heard nothing, choosing to lously, crossing her tap his fingers against the surface of the granarms over her chest. ite. “Still not sure if I feel like it or not. He scoffed, “Pssh, Why don’t you try again tomorno! What made you row?” think that? I just Exhaling loudly to calm her thought your poor nerves, she stomped giving him right over to the milk, chocolate on grabbed it harshly, glared at Valentine’s Day may be him, and stomped back to a bit weird, is all.” He her original spot. “I guess you turned his head to side don’t want any after I’m done,” and rested his chin in his she stated, not even bothering to hand while his elbow Photos by Emma Pittelman Page 16 • www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com
(Models: Eden o’Clair & Eamon Burdick)
Fiction leaned on the island. She couldn’t help but crack out a smirk at his pouting face. What an idiot! She thought, chuckling as she finished poured the next batch. “Even though I hinted I won’t give you any, you know I’ll end up giv-
“She threw a spoon at him with every intention of hitting him only to have him dodge and glare at her. ” ing you some anyway ‘cause, you know, there’s always leftovers.” “Who said I wanted any? It might not even taste good. I seriously think this is a waste of time,” he claimed again, glancing back at her from the side. What, was he five? “Never said you had to sit here and wait as I made chocolate for other guys, did I? You went out of your way to sit here for six hours just for me. Isn’t that so sweet, Honey Snookumpie?” she said awfully sweetly. He gave her look of pure disgust at the corny name, but didn’t even attempt to argue about waiting for her. Letting his pride take over, he didn’t argue and merely turned his head to the side to silently pout. While she did like poking and prodding at him to make him uncomfortable, she did appreciate what he silently did for her. He wasn’t very vocal about his emotions and rarely shared his intentions; his pride was too good for that. Smiling genuinely, she laughed at his pouting face. So cute, she thought wanting to take a picture. In the end, she did end up taking a picture. However, instead of making him chocolate, she made him a cake with an edible picture of his pouting face etched onto it’s surface with a purposefully messy icing heart drawn around his face. Oh, and she had brought it to his work for his friends and coworkers to see just to mess with him. Heh.
www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 17
Environment
RYSE-ing to the Challenge: Interview with Xiuhtezcatl Roske-Martinez
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By Shannon Meyers, 21
iuhtezcatl (shoe-tez-caht) Tonatiuh Roske-Martinez is where he spoke at a climate change rally in downtown Boulder. “At age a 14-year-old from Boulder, Colorado. He is an envi- 5,” he says, “I wanted to shut down the factories, and at age 6, I realronmental activist, musician, and youth director of the ized we were helping [the factories] by buying things from them.” This Earth Guardchange in thought is ians program, an inpivotal for anyone, but ternational non-profit to have this realization organization based in at age 6 is profound. Boulder. The program Itzcuauhtli (eatis “committed to prosquat-lee), Xiuhtezcatl’s tecting the earth, water, 11-year-old brother, is air, and atmosphere so also an activist. He orour generation, and ganized a movement those to follow, inherit called Climate Silence a healthy, just, and susNow in 2014. During tainable planet.” I inthis project, he went on terviewed Xiuhtezcatl a 45-day silence strike to find out more about to show his concern this dynamic individufor the future of the al and the projects he planet particularly, and is involved in, straight powerfully, in the time from the source. leading up to the 2015 Coming from a father United Nations Climate raised in the Aztec traTalks in Paris. In redition, Xiuhtezcatl has sponse, people around been participating in the world were silent dances, ceremonies, etc. in solidarity with Itzcusince he could walk. He auhtli on December was named in the Black 10th, 2014. Xiuhtezcatl Hills of South Dakota and Itzcuauhtli also atat six weeks of age. His tended the 2012 Rio+ name is based on the 20 UN Summit in Rio cosmology of the Azde Janeiro, Brazil. Xitec calendar by Aztec uhtezcatl was one of the elders of Mexico, Arvol youngest speakers. “It Looking Horse and Xo- Earth Guardians Xiuhtezcatl and his brother are constantly active on the frontlines of the ecological was an incredible expelotl Martinez. He grew movement. rience,” he says, “Young up learning to care for people came together the earth and all life upon it. His mother, an activist, founded Earth from over one hundred countries against the fossil fuel industry.” Guardians, and Xiuhtezcatl’s older and younger siblings have been inXiuhtezcatl uses music as a means of self-expression and activism. volved in the organization. A classical pianist since age 7, he has, in recent years, begun music The work of Earth Guardians connects young visionaries not only production with his younger brother, Itzcuauhtli, and other family from Xiuhtezcatl’s home country, but from all over the world. Cur- members. Xiuhtezcatl made it clear that his focus is to engage positivrently, Earth Guardians has 22 crews ity in his artwork, and the artists that internationally, including a 500+ he collaborates with have the same member-strong group in Togo, Africa. objective. He has recently begun takIt has organized events and worked ing ukelele, guitar, and voice lessons, with 350.org, Organic India, Alliance broadening his horizon of self-expresfor Sustainable Colorado, Colorado sion and communication. Interfaith, EarthForce, Eco Justice, A program currently in the works Greenpeace, Sierra Club, and many under the supervision of Xiuhtezcatl more. The organization has worked (and many others) is RYSE: Rising locally in Colorado to fight fracking, Youth for a Sustainable Earth. It is remove the use of harmful pesticides meant to “inspire and get youth enfrom parks, ban GMOs, plant trees in gaged and prepped to be leaders and the city of Boulder, and more. take on issues.” It is comprised of a Xiuhtezcatl has been publicly speakyouth council: youth aged 10-21 from ing out from his heart since age 6, across the United States. The wisdom
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Environment council provides guidance and support to the youth council. The idea behind the RYSE program is that everyone is being trained so that in the future, they can train others. Xiuhtezcatl’s work has also inspired a movement in our very own Hudson Valley. After hearing him speak, Aidan Ferris, the president of SUNY Ulster’s Environmental Club, began an online petition to fight against Niagara Bottling Company’s proposed water bottling plant in the Town of Ulster. Along with initiatives taken by many other members of the community, these efforts ultimately led to Niagara passing on the site and moving on from the Hudson Valley. Outside of work, Xiuhtezcatl enjoys writing stories (“I could sit in nature for hours and just draw,” he says), rock climbing (indoors when it is cold), and dance (he is in a hip hop crew at a Boulder studio). Xiuhtezcatl says he is just a regular teen . . . with a vision. Does Xiuhtezcatl inspire you? If you would like to know more about Earth Guardians, RYSE, Xiuhtezcatl & Itzcuauhtli’s work or music, vis-
it Earthguardians.org, generationryse. org, or earthguardians.bandcamp. com. Xiuhtezcatl and Itzcuauhtli will be attending the Roots of EARTH event at the Frost Valley YMCA on April 10-12, 2015. For more information about this event, or to make reservations, visit frostvalley.org/event/ roots-of-earth.
frostvalley.org/contact-us
From Contact Frost Valley: to book your overnight stay or day pass for this exciting weekend focused on a sustainable future, call (845)985-2291, email info@frostvalley.org, or go to
From Sigi: The Roots of EARTH Retreat aims to create awareness and foster action within local communities, with regards to the health and sustainability of the environment. We will offer high-quality seminars and programs to share wisdom and teach skills that support healthy living, as well as encourage creativity and exploration of the world we live in.
Friends of the Waters
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By Shannon Meyers, age 21
Illustration by Megan Stack
ater – it’s a big issue. Everyone needs it, and it needs to come from somewhere clean and sustainable. It is estimated that water systems across the United States will need to be replaced at a rate of $1 trillion over the next 25 years. One of the most important water supplies in the country is that of New York City. From the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC): “New York City’s drinking water supply system is the largest unfiltered water supply system in the United States. It provides approximately 1.2 billion gallons of high-quality drinking water to nearly one half of the population of New York State every day. Consumers include 8 million residents of New York City plus 1 million residents in Westchester, Putnam, Orange, and Ulster Counties.” The water supply system of NYC is one of the most extensive municipal water supply systems in the world. Every day, more than 9 million New Yorkers consume more than 1 billion gallons of water. The water from the upstate regions is known as “the champagne of urban water supplies”, as it requires no filtration. This water is some of the purest in the United States, coming from the pristine upstate watersheds of New York. This water is collected by a system of 19 reservoirs in the Croton, Catskill, and Delaware watersheds, which feed an intricate system of more than 6,000 miles of pipes, shafts, and subterranean aqueducts. This system of reservoirs requires constant investment to keep up with the growth of New York City.
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Environment
Cooper Lake
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s the Niagara Bottling Company attempted to buy Woodstock NY’s beautiful and well known Cooper Lake, a landmark that has contributed drinking water to Kingston NY for years, the awareness of the destruction of the earth caused by mankind was broadened and community members became involved. Cooper Lake provides roughly 1.2 billion gallons of water to the city of Kingston per year; providing an average of 3.5 million gallons each day. With changes in the earth and the climate, droughts have become more than likely. Cooper Lake is not manmade, it is natural, and has the ability to hydrate an entire city. Water is essential, hydration is needed, and lakes such as our own must stay intact. A community of people should not have to fight for their water in fear that a company with motives for money will take it away from them. What kind of society do we live in where making $1.00 off of a plastic water bottle means more than seeing a greener future for the generations to come? If Niagara was successful they would have produced around 3 billion water bottles per year, adding to the waste large corporations likes themselves contribute on a daily basis. Imagine if they had succeeded? This means that the purity and shelter of our water would have been involved in the waste that is shortening our future day by day. “Niagara Bottling may be out of our area, but water privatization is still one of the biggest issues facing our world today. We need to keep our
By Anna Compton, age 17 eye on Niagara and others like them. We need to watch where they go next, and then we can help that community win their battle.” Said Aidan Ferris, an Ulster County resident and member of The Earth Guardians, a group that advocated against Niagara. It is time to step into the future. We need to educate these companies on the dangerous actions they are taking. We need to put an end to water privatization. Our water cannot be sold to large companies anymore. A shortage in water bottle consumption needs to happen. People need to start choosing products that are reusable, recyclable, or refillable over single term usage. If water bottles are banned altogether, these companies cannot and will not profit off of our water and we will not fear the waste of plastic because it will be diminished altogether. Schools and businesses should begin to ban plastic water bottle usage in their buildings. Those who support the ending of corporation corruption must show it to their peers. Schools have to teach kids the dangers of the actions that have been taken for years and how they have the power to be part of the change. Educating younger generations can give us hope for making sure that these problems do not happen again. People of higher powers such as Government officials must become more involved. If we can open up the minds to those around us, by educating and advocating we can be the change the world needs to endure. Let us tell these companies and those who are harshly damaging the ground we walk on that this must end.
Photo by Liz Simonson
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Environment
Wake Up and Smell the Water
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live in Mt. Tremper, in New York’s Catskill Park region. My entire life, I have been told that we are lucky to live in such an amazing area. I didn’t think much of it until now, when our home is under fire from big business trying to get their greedy hands on, not natural gas, but something more valuable: our water! Companies such as Nestle, Niagara, and Poland Springs, to name a few, are here for one reason, the eight hundred billion dollar market that is our water!! These companies are salivating at the thought of sucking it dry! It is happening everywhere! Recently I watched a very compelling movie which I recommend to all who care about our water. It’s called Tapped, and it discusses how Nestle has weaseled its way into our towns and done considerable damage to them. Because of companies like Nestle, it is estimated that by the year 2030, the condition of the water supply in Africa will be a reality everywhere. Yes, the world is 75% water. However, only 1% of that 75% is drinkable, and it is nearly impossible to purify salt water. This is our dilemma. From towns like Fryeburg, Maine to cities like Atlanta, Georgia, there is a leech on us, the kind of which is hard to remove. In Atlanta, Coca Cola has a contract with the city to pump water out of their lakes. Not to mention the fact that in the contract, they said they couldn’t turn a profit if they were taxed, not even by one cent! But wait, there’s more. In the past few years, Atlanta has seen droughts of immense proportions, droughts so big that citizens were forced to ration their water usage. What does Coca Cola have to do with this? Because of their contract, they don’t have to stop pumping even when there is a drought! What!? The PEOPLE of Atlanta cannot exercise their human rights to water, and Coca Cola gets to keep on pumping for a huge profit!!! In another case, in Fryeburg Maine, Poland Springs is doing the exact same thing: pumping the water, paying no commission to the town, and selling it right back to us for literally thousands of times more than the price of tap water. Some brands are actually nothing more than filtered tap water, for example, Dasani. Now it’s happening to my own area in the Catskills. Niagara, a
By Aaron Luborsky, age 13
company based in California, has asked for a 10 million dollar grant, with no taxes, creating only 40 jobs and 140 when completed. They are claiming to bring business to our area in exchange for the right to pump from Woodstock’s very own Cooper Lake, which, mind you, is an ancient Native American holy place as well as a reservoir for the city of Kingston! Woodstock and other local municipalities are fighting off the companies. These are problems that we need to stop so that the next generation doesn’t have to.
Opposition Rising
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am part of the organization SaveCooperLake.org and, of course, we were elated that Niagara decided to abandon their plans to build in Ulster County. We believe they dropped their plans because they did not want to go through New York State Environmental review. The other real factor was that the students at SUNY Ulster did not want the school to affiliate with Niagara. This was very important. We think the community is relieved that Niagara will not be in our area but it means that they will probably target another community for this unsustainable business. BUT we are also concerned that we need to prevent this from happening again and are working with our elected officials to figure out ways to protect us from this happening again. There is much more to tell you! — Elizabeth Simonson
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e’re glad Niagara decided to drop their plans rather than go through the environmental review. A critical threat to our local watersheds and the integrity of a crucial shared natural resource has been avoided. Second, because Niagara’s proposal spurred the creation of a much-needed task force to address the sustainability and health of our local watersheds & water supplies. We look forward to being part of developing alternative solutions to our water infrastructure challenges that do not require us to mortgage the future of our water and environment. — Kevin D. Smith, Chairman Woodstock Land Conservancy
www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 21
Cover Story
A Woman’s
Race to the Top
By Audrey Malloy, age 19
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hile the public is used to seeing men vastly represented in the field of sports, Women’s Woodstock Cycling Grand Prix race will celebrate the ladies this coming May. The race, a two-day excursion planned for May 1st and 2nd, is an approximately 50mile journey through the Catskill Mountains offered exclusively to women. This is no stroll in the park, however; cyclists will endure some of the most beautiful yet challenging trails in the Northeast. Upon speaking with Martin Bruhn, the race’s coordinator, it became clear how vital an opportunity of this kind is for women of the Hudson Valley. Up until the mid ‘80s, cycling was primarily focused on male cyclists, according to Bruhn. It wasn’t until the ‘90s that a shift focusing on women’s athletic abilities began to take place, despite the many dreams of countless female sport fans all over. Bruhn continually emphasizes the importance for women to recognize their potential in all fields, and I could not be in stronger agreement. The Grand Prix, in addition to being a treat to local cyclists,
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is raising funds for RaisingHOPE (hopefunds.org). This organization is a support group for women of Ulster County to mobilize themselves and to become more self-sufficient. Because women are underrepresented in a field so heavily dominated by men such as athletics, it is important that girls and young women know that they are welcome to participate. “There should be complete stage races for women in this country, plain and simple!” explains Bruhn, further sharing his desire to see more publicity and funding for female-exclusive athletic events. “I think a generation needs to evolve before we see just how powerful women’s racing will be, and in the interim events need to be formatted and created with a woman’s perspective in mind.” With no male participants, this race will be a competition that brings new meaning to the term “fight like a girl.” The course, spanning over 50 miles in distance, begins and ends in Woodstock yet journeys through the difficult terrain of Saugerties, Mt. Tremper and Phoenicia as well. While this course is certainly not for beginners, an abridged 6-mile course is available to bike-enthusiastic families. Bruhn concludes that he hopes that this will first
“There should be complete stage races for women in this country, plain and simple!”
The Women’s Woodstock Cycling Grand Prix WHEN: Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2 WHERE: Woodstock, New York (Ulster County) The Concept The WWCGP was conceptualized and created by Martin Ernst Bruhn, his mission is to highlight the equal sportsmanship and athleticism of females in the male dominated sport of cycling. The movement is gaining momentum and there is now a growing team of volunteers who bring energy and expertise to the cause. Together they are making this dream a reality.
The People Behind The Scenes Photos By Meg McMahon
A cluster of cyclists on the challenging route.
Martin Ernst Bruhn - Race Director - WWCGP2014@gmail.com Jim Davenport - Liaison for Founding Sponsor Rondout Savings Bank Seanne Crozier- Assistant Race Director Cortney Whitebay- Event Logistics Manager and Creative Director HudsonValleyPeakPerformance@gmail.com Jim Hanson- Event Safety Director
and foremost be a pleasant, happy experience and “that they will smile when re-living the pains suffered, and come back for more!” For more information on becoming a participant or volunteer, visit http://wwcgp.weebly.com/.
Emily Molden - Technical Director Ian Nelson- Volunteer Coordinator
Location : Opening Ceremony and Neutral Start Woodstock Mountain View Municiple Parking Lot 9:10am. Registration MtView Studio 7:00-8:45 . Traveling through Woodstock, Saugerties, and Phoenicia, there is no beating the location of this race. As you ascend and descend Catskill mountains, one can appreciate this impeccably routed course and try to take in the scenery, (but watch your speed!) The course begins and ends in historical Woodstock, N.Y. rich in culture and musical history which has given birth to a beautiful and bustling town of art galleries, shops and eateries. The Grand Prix is a display of feminine sportsmanship covering over 50 miles of demanding terrain, touching and inspiring many communities, illustrating the wonder of cycling. Invite your friends and family to share in the spirit and enthusiasm at the finish line (while enjoying some rockin’ live music) this May at the Women’s Woodstock Cycling Grand Prix!
Cover Story
Family Fun Ride May 2, 9:30 AM
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Bike/Car Safety Tips to keep children educated on road safety as they are the future of the town. On May 1st there will be a bike safety clinic for the children of Woodstock. Murray and fellow police officers will be educating the kids to wear helmets, how to use your hands on a bike, how to signal, and an awareness to listening for cars and watching for road obstructions.
By Scarlet Disko, age 17
There will be helmet giveaways and small quizzes to test the knowledge the kids learn at the clinic.
Murray’s Main Tips to Remember: • As a Biker: Watch out for yourself. Take the time to look around you and pay attention to your surroundings. Don’t rely on drivers seeing you. • As a Driver: Avoid aggression when driving around bikers. Take your time when passing a bicyclist and pass them with care. Leave enough distance between you and the biker and always use caution about their every move. • As a kid: WEAR A HELMET!! Its important to keep the roads safe in order to have a functioning and well-ordered community. Keeping the flow of traffic smooth and cautious makes for a happier and more pleasant town. Spring is upon us and we will see many more bicyclists on the road. Be kind, give each other some space and respect and as a community we can all share the road.
Woodstock Bicycle Police Officer Joe Murray with his Trek.
Photo by Dylan McNamara
oad safety is not to be taken lightly. Its important that both biker and driver understand the responsibilities that they have to keep each other safe on the road. Even in small towns like Woodstock where things move at a slower pace, it is important to follow general safety rules as they still apply to keeping our community of cyclists and drivers safe on the road. Speaking with Joe Murray, a bicycle police officer of the Woodstock community, I learned the importance of educating bikers, drivers, and children on road safety as its easy to relax on or forget certain precautions. “The nice thing about being on a bike is that people are wanting to talk or take pictures with you since they’ve never seen a bike cop before,” shared Murray. While its exciting to citizens and tourists to see a bike cop, it provides Murray with the opportunity to inform and educate people of certain tips to follow. He often reminds fellow bikers of following the same road rules as drivers such as stop signs, turn lanes, and sharing the road. With automobiles, he has to educate drivers not to get frustrated with bikers since they have every right to be on the road. In fact, it’s illegal for bikers to be on sidewalks. Murray discussed that its also important
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① Race Start ② Turn right onto Tinker St (0.1 mi) ③ Turn right onto NY-212 W (2.1 mi) ④ Turn right onto Byrdcliff Rd/Glasco Turnpike (3.4 mi) ⑤ Turn right onto Lower Byrdcliff Rd/Rock City Rd (5.8 mi)
Cars
The Evolution of Cars
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By Kyiah Giannelli
ars have always been of interest to me, whether it was playing with matchbox cars when I was little, or on a hyper-realistic driving simulator on my XBox. Cars have become a huge hobby for me, and they fascinate me in many ways. In 1886, German inventor Karl Benz built the first car: the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. He never expected his invention to grow so popular. When cars were first developed, they were considered novelty items. They were also thought to be the greenest form of transportation as horses created a lot of pollution due to their feces. Only a few people saw the potential it had, and it was adopted by a few motor companies that are still popular today, such as Ford and Dodge. The first car that was widely accessible to a large number of people was the 1908 Ford Model T. The Model T had a 2.9 liter engine with 20 horsepower. Cars have changed a great deal since then. Today we have cars that have 7 liter engines with 1,341 horse power. There are many different genres of cars today, such as the hatchback, coupe, supercar, sports car, SUV, hyper car and many others. The Model T had a top speed of 40-45 mph, which was extremely fast for its time. The first car to reach 100 mph was a custom GobronBrilli in 1905. This was unheard of in this time period; the car was a one of a kind and no other cars on the market could reach speeds close to that. Today we have cars that can hit over 200 mph. The first car to hit 200 mph was the 1987 Ferrari F40, which could hit 202 mph. The world’s fastest car on the market right now is the Koenigsegg One:1, which can go 281.5 mph. This car was developed in March, 2014, and only six of them have been made. Sadly, all of these have already been sold for around $2,950,000 each. The second fastest car on the market, which is available to everyone, is the Koenigsegg Agera R. It can reach a top speed of 275 mph. An Agera R will cost you more than $1,500,000. Many car manufacturers are working on many new ways to experience cars such as BMW’s concept self-driving car, the i5. BMW has also released the M235i, a concept car that will drift itself with the press of a button. Every day, people are coming up with new ways to make cars more and more enjoyable and breathtaking. We can only wonder what cars will do next. Here’s the link for your audio driving guide for Route 28 in NY Catskill Mountains from Drive28.com. Enjoy! https://app.box.com/s/ b8loq1jinvzpaj7emxf6 www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 27
Photography
Interview with Lenny Kislin, Artist
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enny Kislin has been selling unusual antiques since 1973. He has been incorporating and assembling unique combinations of antiques and collectibles into his art for the past 30 years. Beginning with a successful career in the antiques business, followed by a successful career in the art business, Lenny has had a very beneficial pursuit of buying and selling unique old objects and turning them into art. Born in the Bronx, Kislin eventually moved to Queens where he later attended law school. Upon graduating law school, Lenny realized he didn’t want to be a lawyer and decided to pursue an alternative means of making money. This led to his career in antiques and later, his success as an artist. I got to meet Lenny for an interview at his house. As I entered the house I found myself surrounded by walls lined with Lenny’s work. The creativity and imagination in each piece was stunning. There was so much history and character behind each object and, piece by piece, the objects came together to form ideas, ironic imagery, and even interactive artworks. After observing some of his work, Lenny and I sat down in the living room.
my art out for sale, and I got so lucky because people grabbed it immediately. CM: From what I understand, you had a very successful first opening show that really propelled your career. LK: It was an incredible experience. The first thing I ever made, I spent 37 dollars on the objects that went into it. I read in Antiques Weekly a full-page ad that said “Wanted: The Art of the Dealer” which was going to be held on Madison Avenue by the world’s most successful antique American Art dealers. It said, “If you are a dealer in art or antiques I would like to see your art to see whether or not you will be in this show: Art of the Dealer”. I had been making art or at least ready to make it. I made that first piece and had an appointment with this guy to see if my art would get in the show. I got there and he came down with his secretary. They looked at this piece and they both started to laugh and said, “You’re in,”. The day of the show I pull up to the front of the building and I see six guys in tuxedos walking out and get into a long black limousine. I go upstairs and I walk up to my piece and I see there’s a red dot over the price which means “Sold.” So I spent $37.00 on the materials and it went for $25,000.00! (laughter) One of those guys who I saw leaving the building bought my piece for the Contemporary Museum of Hawaii. I mean can you imagine: I started at Madison Avenue! Where do you go from there?(chuckles) The other success was making a living off of antiques. The art success was something that was very rare. I was selling things that nobody else could make because I was the one hunting all the time in the dark or the hot weather, always searching for objects, to sell and to put away for the art. The hardest part was hunting for the materials. I spent a lot of time doing that. I used my mind for this stuff and figured out how to honor each piece. I have always had a lot of respect for objects and the people of the past who made them. One night I looked at a 19th century piece of folk art, and communicated in my head with the carver. I looked at the old piece and held it in my hands. I got very emotional… I said, “You are
“A lot of this stuff will be hard to resell, it’s stuff that most people couldn’t care less about, but when it all got together I made them for each other.”
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Photo by Caleb McNamara
Caleb McNamara: So have you always been drawn to using objects in your work? LENNY KISLIN: When I was younger I used to draw and doodle. I thought that maybe someday I’d become an artist who just blows up his doodles. In law school, my note-taking was just drawings and doodles - it was a fun way for me to fill time that I didn’t otherwise enjoy. I did well in school, but I didn’t enjoy being there. After I got into the antiques business, I started finding objects that - while not being readily sellable -were still powerful in one way or another. I had it in my mind that I was going to make artwork with them. In 1991, I started assembling things that I collected over the years. Right now my studio is packed with thousands of objects! Some of the art was made with great objects, which sometimes made it hard to let them go. But I learned to regard the art as a cycle where I would find the materials, think about it, then finally put it together. Since I had experience selling objects I started to put
By Caleb McNamara
Photography not gone, I have something that you made; that you invested your heart and mind into making. You are still alive,” and I started crying, shedding tears over this piece. Here he is - some of his heart, some of his mind, some of his sweat - it’s not easy to make these things. I thought to myself, “Why do I love getting these things? Why do I love to collect this stuff?” And then I realized...I collected time. The time that it took the man to make it, the time he made it in, the time it took to travel to my hands…I felt like I was collecting time. It’s a bit of an esoteric concept, but I really felt that that was a big part of it. CM: It’s obvious that all these objects have their own story and journey. It seems like when you are looking through these pieces the age and the colors are very important, but it seems like a search for a deeper aspect in each object. LK: Well, treasure-hunting is its own activity. I can separate how I feel about an object…from deciding if it’s worth buying and a good resale item, to how do I feel about it: what is it about it that makes me want it? A lot of this stuff is hard to resell; it’s stuff that most people couldn’t care less about, but when put together I make them relate to each other. I want to make a unified statement, and that’s when they begin to become something more than each individual object. Some works I take apart because I don’t like them after living with them, then I use the materials and make something else. You can’t create a masterpiece every time, and that’s the case with a lot of the art. [Gestures to artwork on the wall] I don’t use glue, I screw in each object in from the back of the entire piece. CM: Very interesting. Do you still sell antiques? LK: Yes, but I can’t go out much anymore. That’s one of the saddest things I have had to go through, I can’t really walk anymore and I used to walk for miles - up and down miles of antiques. It was exhilarating! Lenny Kislin has had a long and successful career in “hunting for objects” and then combining them into beautiful works of art. Each one of Lenny’s works carries an immense amount of history in each object used while blending the objects into something completely new, unique and often humorous. Although Lenny may not be in the position to hunt for these delightfully unique objects as intensely as he used to, he can take pride in the fact that he has had the kind of long and prosperous career that many antiques dealers and artists dream of, while also keeping these beautiful pieces of “time” alive and appreciated in his work. www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 29
Television
“Gravity Falls” Review
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i guys! Today I’m going to be doing a review on “Gravity Falls” created by Alex Hirsh. Now normally I wouldn’t particularly like the shows on Disney, but that’s just me. This show is about young Mabel and Dipper Pines who go to their Grunkle (Grandpa & Uncle) Stan’s house. Grunkle Stan lives in his attraction, called the Mystery Shack. The Mystery Shack is filled with fake stuff that the citizens find believable. Dipper, one of the main protagonists, finds a strange journal in the woods with an unknown author. Throughout the show, Dipper discovers the mysteries of Gravity Falls with his twin, Mabel. Mabel is a hilarious character in the show who tells jokes, sings songs and has a sidekick pig, named waddles. Now I know this might sound farfetched, but this show is great. It is definitely not just for kids, but for all ages and has lots of humor. Throughout the show there will be cliffhang- Eden O’Clair dressed as the Gravity Falls ers and you’ll definitely “Wendy” character. be saying, “WHAT?!” No matter what, Dipper will not stop to find the author, even though it costs going through antagonists like Gnomes, Time Travelers, Zombies, Shape shifters, and the strange illuminati, Bill Cipher. This show is animated and appears
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By Jacob Internicola, Age 11 regularly on Disney and Disney XD on most nights. Now, I want to point out some awesome secrets throughout the show. If you read ahead there will be NO spoilers. First, I want to focus on the theme song. The theme song by itself is really cool. The song is great, and there is some cool scenery. Now let’s get to the secrets. At the end of the theme song it sounds like a whisper saying, “I’m still here.” But if you
“It is definitely not just for kids, but for all ages and has lots of humor.” play it backwards, it says, “Three letters back.” Now, there are many codes in Gravity Falls and in one if you put it “three letters back”, it says, “Bill Cipher is watching.” That reminds me. When Gideon, an antagonist in the show, summons Bill Cipher (the Illuminati) it sounds like gibberish. If you play it backwards, it says, “Backwards Message, Backwards Message, Backwards Message!” Well played, Alex Hirsh! Then again, if you are interested in mysteries and secrets, I REALLY recommend Gravity Falls. Remember, reality is an illusion and the universe is a hologram…BUY GOLD BUUUUYYYY!!!
Movies
The Omega Man
T
By Rowan C. Ferris, age 19 he Omega Man is an American science fiction film released in 1971. It was written by John William, directed by Boris Segal, and starring Charlton Heston. The film is set in a post-apocalyptic Los Angeles after the events of biological-warfare which caused most of the human race to become extinct. They are, however, replaced by albino-mutants who, as well as being anti-technology, share a great deal of similarities to vampires. The most notable example of this is the mutants’ nocturnal behavior and their seeming fear of light. The film follows the story of an ex-government scientist Robert Neville (one of the last uninfected humans in America) and the events leading up to his redemption and death. Before the end of the film, Neville finds other humans and begins research on a cure. The results of these revelations are left undefined. The films score is comprised mainly of classic rock, which for the time was quite modern. Despite its dark plot, the movie can be surprisingly playful. The Omega Man takes a somewhat nonchalant look at the destruction of civilization and almost seems like a satire. At times, the movie even makes it seem as though being the last person on earth
could be enjoyable. Between its lighthearted dialogue, thoughtlessly fast-paced writing, and epic one-liners, The Omega Man is what you would call “a fun ride.” However, if you are looking to take an in-depth look at the (what would otherwise be) thought provoking and sinister plot, I’m afraid this is not the film for you. The fast-paced plot does not give one time to contemplate the social and moral implications of the story. It is not only the pacing of the movie that lacks substance. The characters, as well, lack substance. With the exception of the mutants, most of the characters seem to have a nihilistic point of view, thus making it impossible for there to be any comprehension of the moral implications set forth by the story. Though florid, the film is unable to deliver a substantial message about any of the cryptic concepts it brings up. I personally very much enjoyed The Omega Man. It’s a classic 70s film. What I mean by this is that, despite its cheesy and unimaginative dialogue, the film moves along by simply being entertaining. Is that not why any of us go to the movies? To be entertained? Are you not entertained!? For the inspiring intellectual, The Omega Man may seem quite dry, but, for those who are looking to have a good time watching a “fun” but unimportant movie, The Omega Man is a bloody masterpiece! www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 31
Awareness
AWARENESS Celebrates
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By Mikey Shultis age 18
e will often overhear someone saying, “It smells like weed all around here.” or “Somebody went out and got drunk at a party.” Most of the time, we perceive these lines unconsciously. You may not often think about how even casual drug use and drinking might lead to a fatal consequence. Awareness Peer to Peer Adolescent Alcohol/Substance Education Program was formed by a mom of five and a group of young adults who experienced such a painful drunk driving accident that killed one of their friends and imprisoned another friend. These young adults later became the peer mentors to help other teens who have similar substance abuse issues. Below is the history behind the creation of the SUNY New Paltz AWAREJesse Hicks NESS Club in 2011 (by Joe Leggio): I am writing this article a few years out of school, where I have had the opportunity to look back and reflect. I brought the AWARENESS Program into SUNY New Paltz academia in August 2011 because I met an inspirational woman named Marie Shultis who helped me with my own troubles at the time. Adolescents will inevitably be introduced to drugs or alcohol at some point in their life. AWARENESS aims to provide preventive information to teens before being introduced to drugs and alcohol, as well as aid and mentoring programs for the individuals who have struggled with addiction. After meeting a few times with Marie, I knew this program should be offered in every community. You have to start one school at a time. SUNY New Paltz was the perfect platform to introduce this program to young adults. I knew too many people who have struggled with demons and did not know the first step to recovery. People seek out elders or professional help, but in my experience, nothing works better than being around peers who have been through similar experiences. I sat in one meeting that Marie held at a local youth center in the town of New Paltz and saw the effect that it had on others. First time members were able to listen to what others had to say. Everyone has a different piece of advice. Kids are more receptive to what other kids their age have to say as opposed to the “broken record” adults may offer. To speak from a personal experience I had in this program, we held a forum in 2012. We invited members of AWARENESS, local judges and the ADA, as well as anyone who wanted to listen or take part. Here we had several of the young adults share their experiences and what brought them to AWARENESS. Everyone had a powerful story, but one individual, name excluded, sparked an emotional response I was not prepared for. Hearing his testimony made me really feel what he went through and has to live with. This made me want to reach out and want to help him and others like him. There are so many
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Awareness
Ten Years in New Paltz
people who have had moments of weakness who just want help and for people to understand. AWARENESS provides that on a personal level – one that sticks with kids. The members grow together, become friends, and support each other. Not only does AWARENESS fulfill a very needed role in society, there are beneficial results in the judicial system. This program provides an effective alternative for individuals who need help or have been in trouble due to drugs and alcohol. We work with local judges, specifically with ADA Judge Bacon and Judge Katz, who support the program and find it to be a healthy solution. AWARENESS is a fully functional charity and is growing exponentially. To quote Marie Shultis, “The AWARENESS Program has proven that being proactive yields positive results.” I am very excited to see how fast AWARENESS has grown since I graduated and cannot wait to see this program offered SUNY-wide and beyond. Since the Fall of 2012 AWARENESS, co-presidents Nicole Lorio and Madeleine Laser together have been a dynamic team engaging the participants in the 8-week evidence based program created in collaboration with Dr. Ken Winters, PHD University of Minnesota. “I am glad to have worked with AWARENESS for as long as I have and am happy to have seen it evolve into the program it is today. What I especially value about the program is that it gives young people a second chance. Just because you made a mistake once doesn’t make you a bad person and AWARENESS gives people the chance to show that,” stated Nicole Lorio. Cheyanne Mazzacone has worked with the high school population at the New Paltz Youth Program. The group added Annie, a therapy dog-in-training to the program in January of 2014. Now, in 2015, AWARENESS has an expansion team of students from diverse majors helping to do everything from marketing to statistics. Ying Zahn has been named event coordiMaddie and Nicole nator, Ruby Sullivan focuses on marketing, April Polydorou covers PR and Ian Bunce, a Senior at New Paltz High School, is a liason between the two educational institutions. James Cofer, club statistician, has found that in the pre-test, a significant proportion of youth see their behavior as not an issue. By the end of the program, we saw those same youth viewing their behavior as an issue that needed improvement, hence validating the educational value of AWARENESS. Jesse Hicks, AWARENESS Director of Academic Outreach and a SUNY New Paltz student, has been instrumental in helping to expand the program SUNY Wide. Dan Koopman, who was mandated to the program in 2009 and continues to volunteer, states, “There’s a big difference between receiving help and self-help which AWARENESS balances perfectly. There was never more pressure from the people around me to recognize a problem than the pressure AWARENESS made me put on myself.” If anyone would like to volunteer or needs help please contact AWARENESS at ucawarenessprogram@gmail.com or 845-417-1484 www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 33
Poetry
Poppies I Came Alive
By Jayla Sebastian, age 10
One morning in spring, at the time when flowers poke their heads out of the soft earth and raindrops hang on feathery new leaves, I strolled outside into the bright world of morning light. Something seemed to draw me their like a magnetic pull I could not resist. I walked through the damp grass and between trees, feeling like a shadow in the silence. I sat down on an old fallen oak tree, and closed my eyes. Then suddenly, like swirls of colors, new ideas formed inside my head. Then, I came alive like the amazing world around me. For the first time, I realized that I was part of a neverending cycle, linked to everything. The fallen oak would turn into soil which would feed the flowers and plants, which would which would be eaten by animals, which would be eaten by other animals which would eventually turn back into soil to continue the cycle. Everything was important and a necessary being to balance everything, however small or seemingly insignificant. And then, another realization hit me. I would always belong, because I was a part of it all too.
Photo by Michelle Moughan Page 34 • www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com
By Josh Bastacky
All the petals on my poppies are picked.
I would tumble and yell
Two months to bloom and a moment in fall.
but into nowland I fell.
Sun sets due West and I’m back with
And my ink’s running dry,
the green and the spring’s unrest.
here I’ll say my goodbye.
Two months to grow and a moment in fall.
up from the heartland and into the wood,
I bow face-up to the present
I’ll sing grains of timesand and stand where I (I’ve) stood.
and see I haven’t seen it all. There’s equinox around me, the balance of the tall tree, his youngers reach up from the ground, tasting the spring they don’t make a sound. I ground out of the trap no next stop on the map,
Poetry
Hallway of Clones Poem and photos by Cheyenne Angevine, age 18 An aisle of faces, one destination, The dispersion of beings under dictation, Deluded and deceived, products of replication, A perfect display of dissipation. Society’s responsible for the dreary souls, And the brainwashed minds the system controls, Forever their intentions will remain unknown, For they’re nothing more than a hallway of clones.
Monster
By Victoria Schaef
I really want to feel bright again now, I certainly don’t wish to feel shallow. I have gotten so far; I wonder how. I feel like a monster without the howl. Rain falls apart while I keep together. See, whenever the sun shines I do as well. I want to be bright like warmer weather. I appear holding together, none can tell. Things will get better now I am sure. Found enough courage to get through my day. I will find the light and walk out the door. Still pause... the monster is going away. I’ll shed a tear while I say my goodbyes. Casted away, you’ll never see that side.
Photo by Allison Paton
www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 35
Adventure
Gap at Glen Brook
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By Monty Stewart, age 18
ust recently, I received my high school diploma and took my SATs. It’s a relief to know that all of that is behind me, but now I’m under a lot of pressure. My mom and dad want to know what my plans for college are. I am constantly asked things like: “What are you going to study?” “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?” This won’t just be the first step towards my career, but also towards the rest of my life! What I need right now, is someplace where I can clear my head and hone in on my desires. That’s why I’ve decided I’ll be taking a gap year at one of my favorite places: Camp Glen Brook. A gap year is a period of time taken between graduating high school and when you start matriculating, where instead of hopping straight back into study you let yourself relax and do something different. Glen Brook is a summer camp, situated in the rural New Hampshire countryside. It’s founded on the Waldorf schooling principals, which value creativity and self-expression. They’re big on natural products, which don’t hurt the environment and have a strict no-technology rule for campers. Some might be resistant to this at first, but in the end, it makes for a better experience. The camp takes up 250 acres, with a scenic waterfront, forest trails, organic farmland and other such grounds and amenities. It’s one of the oldest summer camps in the country, and to me, is one of the best. It’s a place I want to be, be it the summer, Family Camp in the fall, for maple sugaring in the winter or any of the other excellent programs that they offer
Above: Hanging out at the top of the mountain. Below: Canoeing the river with the whole gang.
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all year round. As both a camper and as part of the staff as a CIT (counselor-intraining), I’ve discovered things about myself, others and the environment around me that I feel I wouldn’t have had I not been there.
“let yourself relax and do something different.” The Falcons are the oldest cabin group (age 15-16), and as such, they get to go on the most exciting adventures. When I was a Falcon, though the canoeing and rock climbing were both fun, it’s the backpacking trips that really stuck with me. I loved hiking the wilds of New Hampshire with my fellow Falcons and Falcon Leaders (who all be-
(Left) Hanging out at the top of the mountain. (Right) Canoeing with the whole gang.
came really close friends). Through these trips, I was able to fall in love with nature in a way I never knew I could. Jake Lewis, (who was one of our Falcon Leaders that year) shall be directing the gap year program, which is another reason that I’m excited, because from experience I know that he’s an exceptional and inspirational leader. As a CIT, you have a lot more responsibility, which includes: helping to take care of your assigned cabin group, assisting your counselors, and working the grounds, kitchen and farms. It sounds like a lot of work, but it’s just as much a joy to be a part of and it contributes to what makes Glen Brook so excellent. If you’re considering taking a gap year, or haven’t even thought about it yet, Camp Glen Brook is a great place to be. To learn more, you can check out: www.glenbrook. org This was Montgomery Q. Stewart, signing off. www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 37
Music
Genius / Madman
I
probably would have joined Rock Academy eventually, but when Paul Green came to see me play, I knew it was the right decision to participate. I don’t know why he was so impressed with me; the songs I played for the Sound Out concert were very easy. I guess he was searching for kids that he thought had potential. Later on, Paul said, “I don’t want good musicians. I want people that I can mold and transform into great musicians.” He explained to me that every person he sees potential in becomes his “pet project” until he feels they have learned all the skills of a professional artist. Walking into the first rehearsal, I was nervous, not about the challenges that I would face when playing the music of Led Zeppelin, but about the madness of the director. Based on Jack Black’s impersonation of Paul in “School of Rock” (2003), I expected him to be running around with a guitar in his hands, screaming lyrics at the top of his lungs and not taking anybody’s crap. My expectations were met. He was laughing and singing until one person made a negative comment. Then it was as if he had an on/ off switch, and switching it on immediately brought him over to the “dark side.” Paul used many swear words when talking to us on the first day. I was 12 back then, and I didn’t know what those words really meant.
By Kendall Wind, 14 years old Photos by Phil Mansfield That day, I took a giant step forwards in my life just by listening to what was coming out of his mouth. Two years have gone by now, so of course my everyday language has evolved. Then Paul decided to run “Fool in the Rain”, and my heart started to beat at a very quick pace. I felt confident about how I played the song, but something about trying to focus on the song while he focused his attention on us put many questions in my head. “Am I doing something wrong? Is it me or someone else that’s the problem?” After a minute or two, he told everyone to stop playing and turned to the guitar player on my right. He asked the student if he knew the song. The student answered by making a so-so movement with his hands. Paul laughed. He explained that either you know the whole song or none of it at all. “That’s like saying if you are a bear…are you a bear?” He followed his question with the same hand gesture that the student had made. “You see my point? …Okay, let’s do…. Black Dog.” Paul is a genius with a passion for music and a degree in philosophy, so an everyday conversation with him can get interesting. Even asking a simple yes or no question will sometimes get you nothing but a long lecture about something mostly off topic that really can’t help you. Is he a genius or a madman? All I know is that I’ve never met a person with a mindset like his.
www.philmansfield.zenfolio.com Page 38 • www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com
Environment
The Art of Michelle Moughan
P
Age 13
hotography is one of my favorite pastimes because you can really capture the details of things. I mostly do nature photography, and I like that you can take something that might seem ordinary, and show how extraordinary it really is. I sometimes take portraits, mainly of my brothers, and I like noticing the different emotions and facial expressions they have. I think you can sometimes see things through the camera that you can’t see with the naked eye, that’s why I love photography.
www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 39
Radio
Interview with DJ Greg Gattine
by Jonah Martindale, age 16
I recently had the opportunity to interview Greg Gattine, a radio show host at WDST. Jonah Martindale: What is it exactly that you do? GREG GATTINE: I am on the radio from noon to six nowadays, five days a week. I’m the radio host of WDST during those hours, and Jimmy Buff is on in the morning from six to noon. It’s a long shift because we haven’t replaced a girl who left a couple of months ago. She did ten to three. Usually radio shifts are four, five hours at the most, six if you’re doing midnight to six. JM: What are the responsibilities of a radio host? How does the song selection work? GG: Jimmy and I decide what songs are going and it’s all in the program, a music master program that we create and that automatically schedules the records. Then that gets exported into this other program which merges the music and commercials all together. I just scheduled all the music through Monday and merged it all in here with the commercials to make sure that there is enough music for every hour. It’s all in the computer now; everything is digital. Whenever we get a CD, we load it into the computer. In the program, we figure out all the stuff like what category this song will go in and how long we should play it. If it’s a new song, we’ll play it twice a day, like every twelve hours. So if you are up at 3 A.M., you’ll hear it and you’ll hear it again at 3 P.M., which is two different audiences obviously. If you heard a song at 4 A.M., chances are you’re not going to be listening at 4 P.M. For instance, “Burning Down the House” might play two times a week or three times a week at the most, but it will play once at 3 A.M. and the next times the computer schedules it in, it would be, say, early afternoon, then in the morning. So a typical listener who only listens for an hour a day would only hear this song once a month. But if you’re
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listening for twelve hours a day, you might hear it twice a week. If you listen twelve hours a day you’re going to hear a lot of classic songs over and over…like “Burning Down the House.” JM: So how do you decide what music to select to play on the radio? GG: Well, the computer decides on a day to day basis. On a weekly basis, we decide. We listen to the new music and then decide which music will be added. Jake Bugg has a little history with us, so if he puts out a new song, we’ll put that one on. We’re playing the new Pink Floyd record too. We play a lot of new stuff from heritage artists, like Robert Plant and Neil Young. But picking new artists is a little bit tougher. Bishop Allen is a new band from Kingston and we have been playing some of their stuff. JM: Where are you originally from? GG: Poughkeepsie, New York. JM: How did you end up here at WDST? GG: I have been doing this a long time. I originally started working in Hyde Park in the early 80’s at a radio station, K-104, which is an AM station. Then I worked at WBNR in the mid 80’s. Back then it was kind of top 40ish. Jefferson Starship was like the new stuff then, before all the boy bands of the 90’s, and there wasn’t really any hip hop or anything like that. We didn’t play any Beastie Boys or anything like that. Then I went to PDH and worked there for 11 years. It’s a classic rock station. I left there in 2000, and when I was retired from the business I got a call from Rob, the general sales manager of WDST back then. He called and I came up and I really like it up here, so I started at WDST at the end of 2000. I started doing the morning show in 2001, so I’ve been doing the morning show for almost 15 years. JM: What are your thoughts on the modern music industry?
Radio GG: I’ve always liked pop music. When I was a kid I listened to WABC, which was AM radio back then. The cool music stations were AM, really progressive underground weird stuff, but the pop stuff that I listened to when I was a kid was ABC and NBC AM. I of course got into rock and jazz and all kinds of stuff. I still like pop. I don’t mind Nicki Minaj. I can listen to that, and my kids get into that. I can listen to it a little while, but when they play it three times a day, that’s too much! I like it for what it is. My son really likes Drake. I don’t like Drake very much, and I never liked Jay-Z. I don’t get into that. JM: Could you discuss a bit more about your childhood, and how you got on your first radio show? GG: I bought my first album when I was eight years old with my lawn mowing money. But back then albums were only $3.99. The first album I think I bought was Rufus, Tell Me Something Good. Then for my birthday I got Good Bye Yellow Brick Road and Band on the Run. Before that I just bought 45s: the little record with the big hole, one song on each side. Those used to be 49 cents or something, and I would go shopping for those all the time. I would play records in my room by myself. When I was going to high school, I heard a commercial for the Connecticut School of Broadcasting and I went wow, oh my God! People do that for a living. What a great idea, because I do that every day after school. I go home and play records. I heard the commercial and I signed right up, and started going there. It was like a six minute tech school, six month tech school. Shortly after that I got my first job in radio. The music was on reel to reel, and all I had to do was rewind the tape and put a new one on. Before I talked or anything on the radio, that was my first job, doing it from midnight to eight A.M., at this station in Hyde Park. Then I went on the radio on the AM station, playing Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra and that kind of thing. My first time on the radio was on this little AM station on a Sunday morning when I was about 17 or 18. And that’s what I’ve done ever since. I stayed at the place I started at, and then they sold the radio station to Cousin Brucie, who was a big 50s and 60s DJ. That’s when I went down to Beacon and worked at WBNR, which was an oldies station. My first real full time job on the air was doing oldies 45s and smoking cigarettes and playing cards. You had to work fast. That’s why they called you a disc jockey. They used to have these turn tables, these big huge machines. You would actually hold the thing while the record was spinning and when the jingle ended you would let go, and time it so it didn’t “whaaa” like records used to do at the beginning. You would sit holding the belt while it was spinning and then let it go and time it so that it wouldn’t do that. We were called disc jockeys because we were riding the machine. I was there at WBNR for five or six years, until 1989, and then after that I went and worked for PDH. That was the heyday of PDH, the rock station 101.5. When I was at PDH, we played old rock, new rock, lot of Zeppelin, lot of Pearl Jam and Nirvana, a lot of Doors. Then the PDH group bought WRRV. Then I came in one day and the Pearl Jam and Nirvana records were gone from the library. I said, “What’s going on?” and they said “We bought a station and turned it into alternative rock, so PDH is going to be classic rock, and WRRV station is going to be alternative rock.” This happened in the 90’s. JM: Who are some of your favorite musicians? If you had to choose a top five, who would that consist of? GG: I would have to have a Rolling Stones Album. I’d want that album to be Sticky Fingers. I would have to have a David Bowie album, that album would be Low. I would have a Beatles album, Definitely Let It Be. I got to have a Jimi Hendrix album, I’d take Axis. For my last one, I would have to take a Bob Marley record. I don’t know which one, though. www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 41
Nature
WILDLIFE Babies Bird Babies:
Yes, you may touch a bird baby if it has fallen out of the nest. You can put it back into the nest, or if that is impossible, or if the entire nest has come down, put the baby bird or nest into a basket or box with drainage and wedge it or hang it from a nearby spot. The nest should be out of the sun and away from human hands and interference. The mama will find her babies and feed them.
Fawns & Cottontail rabbits (aka «bunnies»)
Their mamas leave them alone for the whole day. Their protection is that they have no scent. The mamas return in the evening and feed them. Please do not touch!
Fledgling Birds:
Fledgling Birds have their new feathers and are learning to fly.Sometimes they get out of the nest and you will see them flitting about on the ground. If this happens
Rescue FAQs and If it is a bird out in the wild:
Is this an emergency? Is the bird injured? Is it a young fledgling bird, feathered but not flying well? • Leave it alone, protect from predators • Bring cats & dogs inside!
If it is a mammal or reptile that is injured and needs treatment:
• Catch the animal if it is safe. Call a rehabber for advice. • Keep the animal in a warm, dry box or cat/dog carrier until you reach a rehabber. • Do not give food or water without instructions.
NAME
SPECIES HANDLED
Ellen Kalish* Birds of prey, water fowl
Missy Runyan Birds, small & large mammals Kathy Foley
Songbirds
Annie Mardiney All birds and rabbits Lisa Acton Annie Mardiney * Rehabilitators associated with Ravensbeard.
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All birds All wild birds
please bring the pets inside to provide some protection while the mama and the papa corral their exhuberant youth into a safe spot.
Squirrel Babies:
Sometimes fall out of the tree. They can be alone, or sometimes the nest is knocked out by a storm. You can put these babies in a box or a basket with a fleece blanket near the tree where they came down, and watch. It may take the whole day, you will see the mama taking her babies to a new nest. The mamas have several nests prepared for just such an emergency. The same is true of other small mammals.
Mama Turtles
Are crossing the road in the spring to lay their eggs. You may help them across the road in the direction that they are going. Be careful of the large snapping turtles. They have a rough shell with jagged edges and a long pointy tail. Never pick up a trutle by its tail. Use a shovel, box or bag to gently encourage them across the road.Please wash your hands after touching any wildlife.
Rehabilitators #’s The nest fell out of a tree, was cut down with tree, nest was in tree cavity, etc:
• Put nest and babies back in tree. • Put nest into container that is water-proof, with drainage into outdoor location near original nest site. The nest must be in shaded spot and out of the reach of rainstorms. • Make nest to put in container. Do NOT use grasses, which tend to be cold & wet. Use dry conifer needles, crushed paper towel, shredded paper. Thank you : Ravensbeard Wildlife Center 75 Turkey Point Saugerties, NY 12477 845.901.0633 Director : Ellen Kalish Presentations TOWN
PHONE
Saugerties, NY
845.336.6193 (home) 845.901.0633 (cell)
Hunter, NY
518.989.6534 (h) 518.965.1864 (c)
Port Ewen, NY
Rosendale, NY
845.331.3906 845.658.3467(h) 845.943.8098 (c)
Accord, NY
845.519.8816
Rosendale, NY
845.943.8098 (c)
www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 43
Travel/Memories
Travels in Germany
By Hazel Dunning, age 15
I
traveled to Germany in the summer of 2014 to visit my cousins. We visited the Berlin Wall at the end of my trip after walking all around Berlin. It was very tiring but we walked the whole length of the wall and it was amazing. There was so much artwork and so many different signatures scrawled on the wall. It was such a conglomeration of different styles and messages that were portrayed through the art. It was a great experience.
Memories of Tom & Wojtek Nick J Alba shared a photo to Tom Alba’s timeline. February 22 at 8:30am Take a moment to remember Tom today, 4 years from that tragic day that will forever haunt me, Feb. 22, 2011. Here’s a photo of Tom with his brother, Nick, and lifelong friend Maxwell Storms. Max’s mom Faye Storms posted this photo about 4 weeks before we lost our beloved Tom. Jody Grabowski shared a photo to Wojtek Grabowski’s timeline. February 7 at 7:50am never gets easier -- it just is... miss hearing your voice and crooked grin and your beautiful handsome face.
This journal is dedicated to the memory of Tom Alba and friends Page 44 • www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com
Library
Library Calendar Gardiner Library: 133 Farmers Turnpike Tue: 9:30-1045 & Wed: 1:30-2:30 Story, Th: 5-6 Group Guitar Th: 5-7 Teen Tech Tutors Th: 7-8:30 Knitters 845-255-1255 or gardnerlibrary.org Kingston Library: 55 Franklin St. Mon: 4-5 Bookmaking club Tues: , 10:30 Toddler Story hour Wed: 10:30 Story Hour Thur: 3:30-5 Teen Art Club Call 845-331-0507 x7 or kingstonlibrary.org New Paltz Elting Memorial Library: 93 Main St. : Mon 6:30 pm Chess. Wed 4:00 Knitting kids Fri 6:30-7:30 Movies call 845-255-5030 or eltinglibrary.org Olive Free Library: 4033 Rt 28 Shokan Mon: 5-6 4-H Girls,Tues: 10-11StoryHour.Activitiesforchildren,teenscall 845-657-2482or olivefreelibrary.org Phoenicia Library: 9 Ava Maria dr. Mon 3-5 Homework help, Sat: 10:30-12:00 Event programs, Sat 1-2:30 Art hour. call 845-688-7811/ or phonecialibrary.org Poughkeepsie Library: 504 Haight Av.Teen Room Open: Mon/Tue2-6, W/Th 2-8 Fri/Sat 2-5. Reading Buddy Program. 845-454-9308 or poklib.org Rosendale Library: 264 Main st Wed evening events 7:00. sept 14 Freedom Gardner Horticulture, Oct 17 The American Crow, Nov 14 Climate Change at Mohonk. 845-6589013 or rosendalelibrary.org Saugerties Library: 91 Washington Ave. Mon: 6:30-7:30 Lego Club, Tue & Wed 3:30-4:30 Teen Club (video & crafts). call 845-246-4317 Ann Van Damm Stone Ridge Library: 3700 Main st. Sat: 10-12 Knitters, Film Fridays call 845-687-7023 or stoneridgelibrary.org West Hurley Library: 42 Clover st. Mon: Pre-school story hour 10:30, Weds: Knitting Group 6:00-830, Movie every 4th Monday Call 845-679-6405 or westhurleylibrary.org Woodstock Library: Tue: 4:00 Story time Wed: 10:30 story time.Thur: 4:00 Lilliput Players Sat: 10:30 Family (stories/ performers). Call Lesley Sawhill 845-679-2213 or email: Woodstock.org Catskill Library : 1 Franklin Street Catskill, NY . Mon :Art Club 4:00 pm Tue:Tiny Tots @ Lego Club Phone:(518) 9434230 catskillpubliclibrary.org Hudson area Library: 400 State Street, Hudson NY 12534Tue: 3:30-7:30 Kid’s Fun Night crafts Thu: 3:00pm – 4:30pm Kids Lego Club Fri: 3pm – 5pm Activities & Free Play Sat: 11am – 12pm Children’s Story and Craft Hour ,Sat: 12pm – 3pm Drop-In Children’s Activities phone: 518.828.1792 hudsonarealibrary.org The GoodLife Youth Journal is now distributed throughout the Mid-Hudson Library system!
www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 45
Page 46 • www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com
www.goodlifeyouthjournal.com • Page 47