Van Wyck Gazette Autumn Issue 2014

Fall 2014

Van Wyck Gazette Finally, a magazine with personality!

Robin Williams

A Sad Farewell To A Beloved Man Susan Bourret

Family Friendly Places Alyssa Kogan

Madam Brett Peter Rae

Rhinebeck • Poughkeepsie • Wappingers Falls • Fishkill • Beacon • Newburgh

Contents Editor in Chief Joseph H. Caplan

This is our 15th Issue Special Edition! We strive to celebrate the Hudson Valley lifestyle and promote the finest local artists and business entrepreneurs.

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The county’s first farmer’s co-operative opened in 1743, organized by twenty-one men and one woman, Catheryna Rombout Brett.

New Face of Adversity

6

Meryl Hartstein

8

Susan M. Bourret

10 11 14

The value of a purpose, compassion, gratitude and self-worth.

Robin Williams - A Sad Farewell

Contagious laughter, magnetic smile and overwhelming compassion. Our tribute to Mr. Robin Williams.

Karpeles Manuscript Museum Dennis Wepman

If you love baseball trivia and memorabilia this is the place.

September 4 - December 28, 2014.

Voices of The Valley - Part II Michael Jurkovic

Calling All Poets - An important milestone in American Poetry.

Five Family Friendly Places Alyssa Kogan

The first five of ten family friendly places in the Hudson Valley.

Why list with us?

Our experience in commercial and residential sales / rentals speaks for itself!

Madam Brett

Cover Painting

Stacie Flint

is recognized for her colorful, joyfully quirky oil paintings inspired by her home life, her history, and her imagination. People, pets and objects contribute to the art’s emotionally vibrant animation, creating a magnetizing impact, which frequently inspires viewers to invent possibilities for personal narrative.

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Finally a magazine with personality!

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Van Wyck Ga ze tte

Madam Brett

by Peter Rae

The First Farmers Market in Dutchess County The Beacon Farmers Market, located at the Beacon railroad station on Metro North’s Hudson Division, is one of many such markets located throughout Dutchess County. These markets offer the best in locally grown vegetables and fruit during the summer and autumn, together with fresh, often organic produce from other regions to supplement the local output.

While farmers markets are becoming increasingly popular, farmers uniting to generate more business for themselves is nothing new to Dutchess County. Indeed, the county’s first farmers’ cooperative opened more than 270 years ago in 1743 in Fishkill Landing (now part of Beacon), alongside Fishkill Creek. The goal of its organizers was to enable farmers to consolidate their produce into shipments for delivery by sailboat to New York. Called the Frankfort Storehouse, it was organized by twentytwo citizens – twenty-one men and one woman. The woman was Catheryna Rombout Brett.

The Rombout Patent Catheryna Rombout was the daughter of Francis and Helena Teller Rombout. Francis Rombout had arrived in New York from Belgium as a young man in 1654 and soon prospered as a merchant. He also served in many New York City governmental positions, up to and including mayor. Together with Gulian Verplanck, another successful businessman, Rombout saw the settling of the Hudson Valley as an opportunity for business expansion. In 1682 they persuaded New York Governor Thomas Dongin to give them a license to purchase a tract of land from the Wappinger Indian tribe, and in 1683 they completed the purchase, receiving about 85,000 acres of what is now southern Dutchess County in return for a variety of useful goods and equipment valued at about 1250 English pounds. This immense tract of wilderness was called the Rombout Rombout Patent Patent.

Also in 1683, Francis married Helena Teller Bogardus Van Ball, a daughter of William Teller. The match was a good one, as Teller was a wealthy man who subsequently became one of the four original patentees of Schenectady. It was the third marriage for both. They had three children, but only Catheryna, born in 1687, survived to adulthood.

Continued on page 4

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Fall 2014 Issue

History Francis subsequently died in 1691, and Helena passed away in 1707. from both sides of the river to use it.

Moving to the Wilderness

Madam Brett continued

Growing up in New York City, Catheryna flourished. She fell in love with a former English naval officer, Capt. Roger Brett, and in 1703 at the tender age of 16, she married him. The young couple moved in New York’s highest social circles. But after Helena’s death in 1707 and the adjudication of her will, the Bretts found themselves land-rich but cash-poor. So they decided to leave New York City in favor of what was still the wilderness of the Rombout Patent in the Hudson Highlands. In 1708 they mortgaged their family home in the city and used the funds to set up housekeeping in Fishkill Landing, near the mouth of Fishkill Creek. Then they negotiated with Gulian Verplanck and a third partner, Stephanus Van Cortlandt, to divide the Rombout Patent into three “lots”.

The Madam Brett Homestead In 1709 the Bretts built a new home on a hill not far from the grist mill. In the approximately 250 years since that time, seven generations of the Catheryna Brett family continuously lived there. This house, now known as the “Madam Brett Madam Brett’s Homestead Homestead”, still stands at 50 Van Nydeck Street in Beacon overboard by the swinging boom of his and is open to the public. It offers fascinating sailboat at the entrance to Fishkill Creek. views of how prominent but still ordinary His body was recovered and he was buried people lived over the complete range of at the family cemetery in the Byrnesville section of what is now Beacon.

The Bretts’ share was generally triangular seven generations. and ran from Fishkill Creek north along the Catheryna Brett never remarried. There’s Over the years the Bretts used their share Hudson to a point north of Wappingers of the Rombout Patent to build the no evidence or documentation as to whether Creek, and east nearly to the present-day agricultural community. First they leased she ever wanted to, or why she didn’t. Under Stormville. It included what is now Beacon, plots of land to settlers who became farmers; the English law that prevailed in the colonies Fishkill and East Fishkill, plus parts of other a typical rent might be three geese at at that time, when a woman married, all of towns, and comprised about 28,000 acres, Christmastime. Later they also began to her fortune and property legally became the equivalent of about 44 square miles. A sell larger plots of land for larger farms. her husband’s. Perhaps Catheryna Brett nice nest egg for a young couple just starting These sales provided the capital needed just wanted to keep ownership and control out in life! for their own expansion, and the new of her own property; she never said.

They began by building a house and a farmers added to the income generated by As a widow, Catheryna assumed full grist mill near the mouth of Fishkill Creek. the grist mill. responsibility for providing food, clothing Farming was new to the area and wheat was an important crop; the new grist mill allowed farmers to mill their wheat into flour in readiness for shipment to New York. A year later they sold the grist mill but almost immediately regretted it and soon bought it back. It was the only grist mill in the entire Hudson River valley, and farmers came

The Bretts had four sons, of which two – Thomas and Francis - reached adulthood, while the other two – Robert and Rivery – did not. (“Rivery” got his name by being born on a Hudson River sloop as his parents traveled back home from New York City.)

Tragedy struck in 1718 when, while returning from New York, Capt. Brett was knocked

and shelter for her family as well as the family’s servants (several of whom were slaves). Maintaining and running the grist mill at the mouth of the Fishkill Creek was one of the ways she did this.

The Wiccopee Indians, who belonged to Continued on page 9

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The

Next Classics: 600 All New Reasons to Visit Ethan Allen this Fall

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The Next Classic sofas More sumptuous. More swank. The latest sofas have all the looks and comfort of those that came before plus updated track-arm styling, mid-century modern moments, and gorgeous tufting and curves. With a stunning, angled silhouette that can beautifully float in the middle of a room, the new Shelton An authorized Ethan Allen retailer since sofa (shown) is soon to become a new 1979, The Bells’ offers the greater mid- design icon.

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Page 6

Fall 2014 Issue

Well Being There are times in our lives when we might become faced with adversity. It usually comes unexpected and with so much force that we are literally knocked off our feet. Our worlds become shattered and our life, as we know it, starts to crumble. We are left broken.

My story is not so different from many other women. I lived a charmed life. I grew up with a house in the suburbs and a summer house at the beach. I went to the best schools and was a happy child. I married someone I loved and had a child.

Little did I know, I was in for the ride of my life. There is abuse many times when you live with an alcoholic. My abuse was enough for me to take my child and leave. As time passed, I remarried, had another daughter and a few years later, just when my life began to settle down, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. It was over twenty years

The New Face of Adversity

by Meryl Hartstein

ago at a time before the internet, support groups and the newer surgery techniques.

I didn’t know if it was a death sentence or if I would recover. After I did recover, I felt numb, in shock and unable to move forward.

But I did.

The years passed without too much drama until my older daughter developed a drug addiction after the birth of her baby, who was born with special needs. After too many surgeries for kidney stones and a husband who abandoned her, it became a recipe for disaster, she needed to go away for help.

It seemed like one morning I woke up and decided to not be a victim. No adversity was going to define who I was. I had also decided to start telling my story and use my voice. When this moment happens, you discover a path to a journey of rebuilding and moving forward. There are four components to achieving this goal. In order to take the focus off of your pain, you will need to find a passion in your life, a purpose.

Many times we take the actual adversity that we’ve gone through and find ways to empower others with the knowledge of our experiences. Compassion for others is another way of being able to heal. When you give back, you realize that you are not alone, you are able to use your knowledge and share your story and help others at the same time.

While she was away for months in rehab, I took care of my special needs granddaughter who could not talk or walk. After so many adversities in my life, I began to crumble. I felt that I was broken and feared that I could Of all the healing tools that there are, I never climb out of this dark hole that I was believe gratitude is the strongest and most living in. pure. If you are grateful, it’s impossible for I was now faced with a choice. I can you to feel anger, resentment and jealousy, become bitter and live a life that is full of those feelings cannot co-exist with gratitude. fear, regret, guilt and shame, or I can choose For me, it was crucial to find a strong to become better and create a new normal sense of self-worth. When you have gone by finding the resiliency inside of me to through any adversity, many times your bounce back. self-worth is destroyed. It takes hard work

Scott Russinoff, M.D.

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Van Wyck Ga ze tte and determination to build it back up. Letting go of the shame is the first step.

THE GREAT MIGRATION

Adversity does not discriminate. It does not know from race, religion, sexual orientation or net worth. It can happen to anyone at any time.

No one is protected and no one is exempt.

When we recover from adversity, we are left with a rare gift. We have now developed a strength that not many have. We have become fighters, warriors and we need to wear our badges of honor proudly. We cannot feel sorry for ourselves and bathe in self-pity, for we are no longer victims.

We have a knowledge that we’ve earned about life and survival.

I have survived abuse, divorce, cancer, a child with addiction, and special needs grandchild. I didn’t allow it to destroy me. Instead I made the right decision. I built a life of happiness and success. I found my passion and gave back to society. My gratitude overflows and my thirst for knowledge is unstoppable. I am the new face of adversity. I became the role model I want for my children and grandchildren to see. My intensions are pure and my heart is full. If I can survive, anyone can.

Meryl is a Published Author, her book “You Were Born to Shine” will be released this summer.

She is also working on her second book “Bounce Back Women”, comprised of stories written by strong, successful women who have overcome adversity; Fran Drescher, Donna Hogan, sister of Anna Nicole Smith, Dominique Blake, Olympian winner and many others.

After surviving unimaginable adversities herself, she has become an advocate for giving back and helping other women find their success no matter what challenges they may have faced.

In addition to being a writer, she is a Strategic Life & Relationship Coach, Guest Speaker, Celebrity Confidence Expert and Founder of Bounce Back Women, a not for profit foundation.

Kit Fraser is a Hudson Valley based illustrator and cartoonist. She publishes a weekly webcomic at www.likeamagnetcomics.com.

At present, she is working on numerous media projects.

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Fall 2014 Issue

Entertainment

ROBIN WILLIAMS - A SAD FAREWELL TO A BELOVED MAN

by Susan M. Bourret

Williams was not able to overcome his shyness until well into his high school years when he became a member of the school’s drama department, which would ultimately aid him in his future endeavors as both an actor and comedian. He was an excellent student who went on to become class president and was an active member of both the soccer and wrestling teams. At his 1969 graduation Robin was voted by his classmates and teachers to be “Most Likely to Succeed” and was further voted “Funniest Personality” by his classmates.

There are endless words to describe a man who touched the hearts of so many and took the world by surprise with his unsuspecting death. Having spent the majority of his lifetime in entertainment, gracing stage after stage, from sitcoms to comedy, from movies to filmmaking, Robin Williams is a name known worldwide and a presence etched in many of our hearts.

He was born Robin McLaurin Williams in Chicago, Illinois, July 21, 1951, to his mother Laurie McLaurin, a Mississippi model and his father, Robert Fitzgerald Williams, an executive for Ford Motor Company, and had two brothers, Todd Williams, who predeceased him, and McLaurin Smith. He leaves behind his wife Susan Schneider and three beautiful children, Zak, 31, Zelda, 25 and Cody 22.

A very quiet and shy child early on,

us all. With a lifetime of achievements and accomplishments to his credit, there is none so prominent as his uncanny charm and demeanor that will linger in the minds and hearts of a shocked world; a world that now embraces the reality that this man and all his boundless gifts are gone; gone in its earthly form but never to be forgotten.

We can all learn important lessons from this shining star and the obvious challenges and hardships he so suffered in silence.

One should never fully judge a book by its cover for Robin himself portrayed a cover so full of high energy and life on the outside, but only to hold deep heartache and pain on his inside pages. The world, and most people in it, tend to see only that which is on the surface and are completely unaware of all that is masked inside in the form of pain and anguish, especially when one, as Williams did, can put on their greatest performance ever and have his every audience believe and hold fast to that lifelong Oscar performance.

After his graduation and having attained a full scholarship to the Juilliard School in New York City, along with longtime friend Christopher Reeve, Williams went on to pursue an acting career and studied theatre for several years before landing himself his first casted part in the musical Oliver and after that performance the rest became pure history. His future acting roles, movies, film making and philanthropy would grace his worldwide audiences and though his movies were many this writer believes his Williams led the world to believe, through powerful role in “Good Will Hunting” was his abundant laughter, jokes, smiles and among his most treasured performances. acts of kindness that this was the very He brought endless laughter to every essence of his being; and indeed it was but household, smiles to every face and joy to sadly it was consumed by the devastating every heart in a way unmatched by others. suffering that he chose not to share with For most, if not all of us who followed this others. In a world so filled with pain, iconic man through his years of entertaining, suffering, heartache and challenges, this there will be no other that can be more magnificent man elected to focus his entire respected or can take the place of that life on taking away, from others, those very beloved voice and quick wit and the ever same challenges and hardships that, in the present sense of hysteria he brought to his end, closed his book of life forever and audiences. How one man could possess notably it was a task he performed such an overwhelming talent for lightening successfully. We all cannot help but wonder the lives of so many, whether through his how truly cumbersome was this task when humor or compassion, is awe inspiring to all along he suffered from the very pain,

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Van Wyck Ga ze tte heartache and challenges he opted to save list some of the truly endless words that describe this man and share them with my his massive audiences from.

I cannot help but take a few moments to readers. Words outside of his intellect and talent but rather words to describe his heart, his soul, his very being: adored, admired, cherished, endeared, highly regarded, idolized, loved, precious, prized, respected, treasured, kind, caring, compassionate, gracious and above all “a gift to mankind from God above.”

Farewell Robin. Your contagious laughter, your magnetic smile and your From this writer and her family overwhelming compassion will be forever Thank you Robin for the smiles. Rest in remembered and without a doubt, forever Peace “Good Robin Williams”. missed.

Madam Brett continued

the Wappinger tribe living in Dutchess County, played an important role in Catheryna’s life. They often camped on her land and even in front of her house, and her children played with the Wiccopee children. All the Bretts became familiar visitors to the Indian village. One story has it that when a land dispute arose between Catheryna and some settlers in Poughkeepsie, the settlers hired some Indians to attack the Bretts. But the Wiccopees warned her and she and her family were able to escape. Later, the dispute was resolved in favor of Catheryna, and the Wiccopee Indians were given a gift of money as a goodwill gesture by the Van Cortlandts, Verplancks and the Bretts, all holders of the Rombout Patent.

The Frankfort Warehouse The Widow Brett continued to prosper from profits achieved by the grist mill. And thanks to the growing community of farmers who purchased land from her, there grew a need for storage and shipping facilities

History

the county; one account notes her beyond the capacity of the original mill. And attendance at a church in Poughkeepsie thus in 1743 was created the Frankfort by means of a carriage drawn by four horses Warehouse. driven by two servants in front with a third As the only woman with twenty-one men, in back to open and close the carriage door.

Catheryna organized the first producers’ co-operative, and entered it on equal terms with the men. The members brought in produce, stored it in individual storage facilities in the warehouse, consolidated it for shipment to New York, and set the prices that New Yorkers would be asked to pay.

Some chroniclers believe that Catheryna also owned the sloops that carried the produce to its consumers.

In 1763, Catheryna Brett made out her will, dividing her considerable properties between her two sons, Francis and Robert, and their families. A year later, at age 77, she died. It is said that she was buried in the glebe of the Dutch Reformed Church in Fishkill Village, and when the church was enlarged, it was extended right over the gravesite. The church still stands today, but there is no actual evidence that she was Catheryna is said to have galloped interred there. throughout her lands daily on horseback to Should you wish to learn more about tend to business. She also took time out Catheryna Brett, we suggest a visit to the for worship; indeed, beginning in 1710 she Madam Brett Homestead in Beacon, which and Roger would sail across the Hudson was purchased by the Daughters of the to attend services at a newly formed American Revolution in 1954 and has been Lutheran church in Newburgh. And when maintained as a museum by the DAR’s a new Dutch Reformed Church was built Melzingah Chapter ever since. Call for in what is now Fishkill in 1730, she worshiped details at 845-831-6533, or visit their website there. Indeed, she was prominent throughout at www.melzingah.awardspace.com.

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Page 10

Fall 2014 Issue

Sports

The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum 94 Broadway, Newburgh, NY 12550 (845) 569-4997 or KmuseumNBG@aol.com The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum presents:

Professional Baseball

by Dennis Wepman

early history of baseball in the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries, including documents showing the founding of the National League and original contracts highlighting the extraordinary career of George Herman “Babe” Ruth (1895-1948), who played in major league baseball for 22 seasons from 1914 to 1935. Included are Ruth’s signed 1933 contracts with the Red Sox and the Yankees, as well as a $25,000 deal he signed with the Boston Braves in his final big league season.

Professional Baseball Documents and Artifacts from the Early Days of America’s National Sport Thursday, September 4 – Sunday, December 28, 2014 Baseball, a game popular in various forms in England and on the continent for centuries, evolved into its present form in the late 1800s to become the national sport of the United States.

The Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum is located at 94 Broadway, across from City Hall, in the City of Newburgh. The Karpeles Museums are a national chain with twelve in the U.S., specializing in the preservation and display of original, historically significant documents and manuscripts. Museum Hours: Thu.-Sat., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 12 to 4 p.m.

With rules varying from place to place and from year to year, the game became professionally established with the emergence of the Major Leagues, beginning with the founding of the National League in 1876 and the American league in 1901.

From September through December 2014, the Karpeles Museum will present an extraordinary exhibition of some two dozen original manuscript pages and artifacts relating to the development and

display will be a shriveled and blackened baseball used in professional ball games in the 1830s and a document recognized as the oldest surviving scorebook in baseball. Also included will be a 1939 letter describing the invention of the catcher’s mitt by its reputed inventor Joseph B. Gunson, and an original 186768 tobacco card picturing the legendary outfielder Dave Birdsall, who played for the Union of Morrisania, N.Y., and later for the Washington Nationals and the Boston Redstockings--considered the first baseball card ever issued.

Admission is always free.

Visit us online: WWW.KARPELES.COM Among the most remarkable artifacts on

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Van Wyck Ga ze tte

Voices of the Valley - Part II

by Michael Jurkovic

Calling All Poets

recording for broadcast and future download, readying its second, full-length anthology.

“Poets have grown up at CAPS.” Re-building its website, establishing its own - Jim Eve, poet, founder, co-host Calling non-profit, and is the central recurring theme All Poets in a new, national publication Waymark “The Hudson Valley gives voice to writers Voices of the Valley, edited and published and poets who have something of value to by Beacon poet Roger Aplon. say and a comfortable environment for Oh yeah. And I’m a co-host too. Jim’s accomplishing this important endeavor. pretty persuasive and got me to back in the From the caves of Rosendale to the richness fold in ‘03. It hasn’t always been smooth of the Howland Center, the Hudson Valley sailin’, but I don’t think I’m leaving any time has nurtured me and advanced my career.” soon.

– Eddie Bell, “Founded in 1999, Calling All Poets is author, poet, among the oldest poetry series in the Valley.

Capt’s Dreaming Its artistic magic derives from our diversity, Chair, Festival of talent, and the dedication of our supporters Tears.

- college kids, octogenarians, novice, I was moving famous, street poets and professors. And Voices of the let’s not forget Howland is a featured poet Valley through in and of itself.” the coffee shops - Robert Milby, poet, Ophelia’s Offspring, and bookstores of Dutchess and Ulster Crow Weather, co-host Calling All Poets when Jim Eve started CAPS at the Howland Inspired by such seminal regional reading Center. Having just left there due to the series as Bill Seaton’s Poets on the Loose small to negligible audience, I wished him and Tusay’s Poetry Summits in Newburgh, a lot of luck. But he’s been tenacious, and now, in its fifteenth year, Calling All Poets Jim established the format that has become reaches well beyond Beacon - streaming a first Friday tradition: The Big Red Doors poets from across the ‘net. Filming and of Howland open at 7:30. There’s a $5.00

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Poetry admission ($4 CAPS members). Camaraderie and handshakes greet peer and general populace alike. Refreshments ranging from fruit, finger foods, wine, Mike Jurkovic coffee, water and tea, welcome all. The two featured poets read their work for 30 minutes each then break.

And here, since February of this year, tradition veers into the immediate. Before the two poem open mic begins in all its raucous glory, CAPS has begun streaming poets in for a mini-web-feature. Ten minutes from across the ether. So far we’ve beamed poets in from Colorado, Phoenix, and Charlotte. In May, from Albany, poet/activist Dan Wilcox and, in June, NYC’s Bruce Weber. In the near future, if the CAPS Techno Crew has their way, poets Glenn Werner and Larry Sansone will have enabled poets and audience from around

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Fall 2014 Issue

Poetry

Voices of the Valley - Part II

continued the globe to subscribe to www.callingallpoets. net or the CAPS FaceBook page and log always pretty, but always passionate , in to watch the readings live or sign up for honest and curious enough to stir our souls, minds and imagination.” the open mic.

- Tony Pena, poet, Opening Night in “Calling All Poets has successfully created Gehenna a diverse community of poets and writers who support one another. Whenever I’m “With the people who have stepped up there, I feel as if I am part of something to take charge of various technologies, I bigger, a movement in the arts. In addition, see CAPS as a blooming onion right now,” they have embraced technology, streaming the founder says with a genuine pride. readers outside the area live and “There were times when I wasn’t sure Glenn Werner broadcasting the events online. Calling all there’d even be another CAPS reading, but Poets is one of the best series in the Hudson our supporters kept it going. All this is movements before us, that democracy Valley! something everyone involved can take a needs all voices to determine and to per- Rebecca Schumejda, poet Cadillac bow for.” Jim concludes. severe.

Men, Waiting at the Dead End Diner “Being a part of CAPS has been a “I believe that if CAPS continues on the “CAPS is about poetry of course. But it’s tremendously enriching experience from path it is now blazing it will become an also about community, how it’s actually the very first time I read there. It is a truly important milestone in the growth of created a community of diverse personalities nurturing, inspiring, environment where you American Poetry.” and backgrounds that come together each can develop your voice among a diverse – Glenn Werner, poet, Premeditated month to speak in the one language we all family of extremely talented writers.”

Contrition and other poems, CAPS know. The spoken word. Every month - Laurence Sansone, 1st Poet Laureate Tech Czar. there’s a mark on the calendar that we all of Beacon, co-CAPS Tech Czar And, in the end, a special piece written look forward to.”

“The varied crowd Calling All Poets by friend and long time CAPS aficionado – Ken Holland, poet, Pushcart nominee attracts makes for lively nights. It’s rare that Marina Mati, poet, CaveSpeak and That’s not to say that works nurtured in we have a dull evening. The fact that the Perseverance Howland have never expanded beyond hosts are welcoming and gracious for the On the first Friday, goddess of Love day, Beacon. Besides many chapbook and full presence of a supportive crowd speaks the Howland is OUR Land. length publications, many of the characters volumes. You don’t have nearly the sense Here, we are besotted Irene O’Garden brought to life at Howland of camaraderie anywhere else.” with the reign of words, yes, drunken, found their way off-Broadway in Women – Christopher Wheeling, poet, CAPS adrift in the aroma of vintage text On Fire. photographer (inhabited by silver fish) cascading off the balcony, besotted And as CAPS not only pushes the techno In closing, it has become a growing conin the flame of a human dilemma boundaries it also begins to define new sensus - as the attendant quotes attest, as General Howland’s quartet would never manners in which poets, i.e. human beings, the audience and community vibe expands, have conceived. exchange ideas thus fully democratizing and as each poet casts a voice into the This is the night out the human voice. national conversation - that Calling All Powe all yearn for, the night ets has become the hub of Hudson Valley “Like the heart of Henry’s tidal river to which we are called. beating by manic Manhattan streets, sleepy poetry. Now, as CAPS stands poised to Here is a beacon, bright as the full moon villages, and hardscrabble cities, Hudson bridge the global tribe of wordsmiths, we where the wolf clan HOWLS! Valley poets touch all walks of life. Not are proving positive, like many grassroots Village Shoppes - next to Five Guys 703 Route 9, Fishkill, NY 12524

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Fall 2014 Issue

Five Family Friendly Places

Hudson Valley A shrunken head in Pawli n g ? Caves filled with ice in the middle of the summer?

The Hudson Valley and surrounding area is well known for family fun.

However, at the end of the day, you want to create special memories that are not usually found in a movie theatre or bowling alley. Compiled here is a list of five off the beaten path, little known places that the entire family will ooh and ahh over. Many of the venues are free or low cost and all have a “wow factor” that promise to become great fodder for Show and Tell this school year.

by Alyssa Kogan

Jane Mine is a classic example of room and pillar mining and it has the feel of being in a pre-historic cathedral. You can visit the Snyder estate and the mine on Sundays through Labor Day Weekend from 1- 4 p.m. or by appointment. 686 Route 213, Rosendale. - www.centuryhouse.org.

Secret Caves, Howe Caves, NY. While we are on the subject of caves, if you don’t mind a short drive, Secret Caves is Howe Cavern’s unspoiled sister. Featuring a 100 foot underground waterfall, the caves are part of the same system as nearby Howe Caverns but are in a natural state. Down 103 steps, the one hour tour takes visitors on a ½ mile journey into prehistory. Expect some comedy along the way as the guides are unusually jovial. Kids under 6 are free.

Bring a light jacket. 671 Caverns Road, Howes Cave. - www.secretcaves.com.

Innisfree Garden, Millbrook.

Recognized as one of the world’s 10 Best Gardens, this family pleaser is an easy and beautiful hike around a glorious lake. Based on a Chinese secret garden, the grounds have many surprises including bridges and hiding places. Martha Stewart often takes Opus 40, Saugerties.

One man’s vision created the visual her friends to the grounds. The garden is open Wednesday through Sunday and legal masterpiece that is Opus 40. A beautiful holidays at 362 Tyrrel Road in Millbrook. blend of artistry and landscape, Harvey Fite www.innisfreegarden.org. built the 6½ acre bluestone sculpture himself. Feit bought an abandoned quarry Trevor Zoo, Millbrook.

The only zoo in America located in a high for $250 and for 37 years worked by hand school, the Trevor Zoo houses 180 exotic to create this amazing labyrinth. Designated and indigenous creatures. The six acre a National Historic Place, the grounds campus is small enough that even the include a museum of Feit’s tools. Open toddler set can make it easily through a visit Thursdays through Sundays seasonally. yet be intrigued by the well thought out 50 Fite Road, Saugerties. - www.opus40. exhibits. Located at 131 Millbrook School org.

Widow Jane Mine at The Snyder Estate, Rosendale.

The Hudson Valley has a long history with the cement industry. Rosendale Natural Cement was used in the construction of many of our nation’s historical landmarks such as the base of The Statue of Liberty, Road it is opened all year. - trevorzoo@ the US Capitol Building, Grand Central millbrook.org.

Station and the Brooklyn Bridge. The Widow

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