Spring Issue 2016
Van Wyck Gazette
Fishkill • Beacon • Wappingers Falls • Poughkeepsie • Newburgh • New Paltz • Rhinebeck • Woodstock
This is just the perfect time to celebrate the historic Hudson Valley and our Spring Issue has just the right mix of content and photography. Our regional feature is a review of the National Park Service historic sites in the area by photographer Steve Kelman on their celebratory J. H. Caplan 100th birthday. Our cultural feature is both a fabulous study of June Prager (Artistic Director of the Mirage Theater Company) by Lewis Gardner and their adaptation of works by poet William Heyden. Our in-depth feature is a focus on the restoration of both the sloop Woody Guthrie and Clearwater by Michael Jurkovic. Our heritage feature is the study of Fowler’s Folly or the Octagon House building trend of the 1850’s by Peter Rae. Special interest content includes tips on coping with negative people by Diane Lang M. A. and self-defense basics by Katie Maus M.A. Plus, a pet is both a companion and more by Adrea Gibbs. Our gratitude to Woodstock artist Vince Natale for terrific cover art! Van Wyck Gazette community magazine is always available in print, on www.issuu.com and www.vanwyckgazette.com plus Facebook.
Table of Contents 3 4 8
June Prager Poland to Poughkeepsie
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Cover by Woodstock Artist, Vince Natale
Stine is probably best known for his previously published “Goosebumps” series of books. With over 400 million books sold worldwide, R.L.Stine has been previously noted as “America’s number one best-selling author” by USA Today, and “The best-selling children’s book series author of all time”, by the Guinness Book of World Records, in 2003. This story is a about a young boy who is accidentally hypnotized by his sister, causing him to lose his memory, after which, they both become entangled in frightening goings on in their old house, as well as confronting various scary and malicious characters. Vince Natale has been creating illustrations and fine art professionally since 1985. He attended the School of Visual Arts in New York City and graduated from the DuCret School of Art in Plainfield, New Jersey. His works range from magazine editorials to book covers to fine art and spans the genres of Romance, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Portraiture, and military subjects. Vince has also created many illustrations for advertising clients in fashion, pharmaceuticals, Vince Natale and high tech. He’s received numerous awards for both his commercial and fine art work, and has been represented in over a dozen annual exhibitions of the Society of Illustrators in New York and Los Angeles. Vince’s works also appear regularly in the Spectrum annual book of The Best in Fantastic Art and various other national and international art publications. As well as having produced work for private commissions, his personal/gallery works have found homes in many private collections in the U.S. and abroad. Alongside his professional artist/illustrator duties, Vince is also a drawing and painting instructor at the Woodstock School of Art in Woodstock, New York.
Diane Lang
The Hudson River Valley’s National Park Sites
Joseph Caplan - Publisher
This painting was originally commissioned by Parachute Press in 2000 for the cover of “Don’t Forget Me!”, the first book in the new children’s horror fiction series, “The Nightmare Room” from R.L.Stine.
Dealing With Negative People
19 22
Steve Kelman
Lewis Gardner
Sail On Sailors Mike Jurkovic
Fowler’s Folly Peter Rae
Winter Heartbreak, Hope Springs .....Maybe Adrea Gibbs
Self Defense Katie Maus
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Tips For Dealing with Negative People We all have some negative people in our lives. It could be family (and for most of my clients, it is family), friends, co-workers, neighbors, spouses or even our own kids. Sometimes we can break up with the negative people in Diane Lange our lives but sometimes we can’t. If you have negative people in your life then here are some tips for dealing with them. If you know why someone is negative, it’s easier to deal with them. It allows you to realize their negativity is not about you. It’s all about them. It’s not personal. You can also find empathy and compassion for the person when you know why they are so negative. This can allow you to remove the personalization feelings. Moods/emotions are contagious – this goes two ways. You can spread your happiness to them but it also means their negativity can rub off on you! Learn the mind-body connection. When you start feeling stress, anger or negativity how does it show up on your body? Some of the typical spots are shoulder/back, headaches, jaw pain from grinding teeth or stomachache. When you start feeling the negativity on your body then it’s a warning sign, a red flag to stop what you’re doing and make a change. It might mean walking away from the situation, taking a time-out or setting boundaries. Just make sure to pay attention to your body. Keep up your own happiness levels – if you’re living with negativity, the best way to keep balanced is to spend a lot of time doing what makes you happy. Write a list of what makes you happy and then add those activities into your weekly schedule. Is it a sign? Sometimes the negatives we are surrounded with is a sign that we need to make changes in our own life. Look at the whole picture. Are you stuck in a relationship that is not working and making you unhappy? Do you need to make changes to make the relationship better? Is it time to move on from the relationship? Is it a sign that you need to switch jobs? Etc? Why does the person’s negativity affect you so much? Does it hit a past hurt that you haven’t worked through yet? Is it causing deep-rooted anger and you need to work on forgiveness for yourself or others? Is the person who keeps pushing your buttons doing it so you can feel their pain? They don’t feel heard or understood but just don’t know how else to get through to you? Do you stay in a relationship because it fits your own needs such as care taking, being needed? Makes you feel valued and wanted? lf any of this is true then you need to look at other ways to feel valued and needed. Ask yourself what’s missing out of your life that needs to be fulfilled? It’s not your job or responsibility to solve someone’s problems or make them happy. Let go of this responsibility. You can’t change or control anyone else and trying to is setting yourself up for failure. Remind the negative person about the positive – discuss all that the person has to be grateful for. Remind them of all the good they do. Tell them something positive about themselves and give them reasons to be grateful, if they need encouragement. If you’re close with the negative person then try to set up some fun time and things to look forward to. When they are in the fun zone, they are less likely to complain and it can help them forget their worries for a little bit. It also gives both of you something positive to look forward to. For more information please visit Diane’s website: www.dlcounseling.com or email Diane at Dlcounseling2014@gmail.com
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The Hudson River Valley’s National Park Sites
Steve Kelman The National Park Service (NPS) will be celebrating the 100th Anniversary of its creation in 2016.
Of the more than 400 NPS sites within Appalachian National Scenic Trail (Georgia the system several are located in the to Maine) also passes through the Hudson Hudson River Valley. River Valley. As the nation prepares to mark a century Coming in from the west and Harriman of what historian Wallace Stegner once said and Bear Mountain State parks, the was “the best idea we ever had” the coming Appalachian Trail (AT) crosses the Bear months and weeks would be a wonderful Mountain Bridge and then continues in a time to visit the park units that are located northeast direction first by ascending a in the region. mountain known as Anthony’s Nose near First some brief history… Started in 1916 under the administration of President Woodrow Wilson, the National Park Service became an agency that operated (and still does) under the Department of the Interior. Before that time responsibility for the nations’ national parks, monuments, battlefields etc. was shared between the Department of War, Departments of Agriculture and Interior.
Peekskill.
The trail winds through Hudson Highlands State Park and Clarence Fahnstock State Park as it meanders its way to the New England states and eventually to its northern terminus on Mount Katahdin in Maine.
Built on land that was owned by her husband, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Val-Kill, was her main home from 1945 until her death in 1962. Val-Kill was Roosevelt’s “place to gather family, friends, associates, walk in the woods, picnic, ride horses and swim.” Visitors can explore the grounds and garden, hike on woodland trails on the property and tour the house. From May 1st through October 31st the site is open 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm. Guided tours are offered throughout the day with the last tour at 4pm. Before May 1st tours are only offered at 1pm and 3pm Thursday through Monday. The visitor center opens at 12:30pm.
The trail in this region is maintained by volunteers from the NY/NJ Trail Conference. Opportunities for numerous day hikes along The Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic sections of the trail abound. Site is located on 54 Valkill Park Road in Today units within the NPS are designated The trail is marked with two inch by six Hyde Park. The telephone number is 845as national parks, (example Yellowstone), 229-9115. www.nps.gov/elro historic sites, monuments, cemeteries, inch white blazes. scenic trails, scenic rivers, and battlefields. Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt: For hiking suggestions consult the New From his birth, childhood and throughout The National Park sites (or units) located York Walk Book which is published by the within the Hudson River Valley, all of which Trail Conference. Information can also be his political career as governor of New York and then as President of the United States are National Historic Sites, are: the homes obtained www.nps.gov/appa Springwood was the “nucleus” of the life of Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Val-Kill, The Home of Eleanor Roosevelt and career of Franklin D. Roosevelt. the Vanderbilt Mansion, the home of Martin is the only national historic site in the Van Buren and the Thomas Moran National Throughout his presidency he returned National Park Service dedicated to a first Historic Site. to his home in Hyde Park “some 200 times lady. for temporary respite from Washington.” A section of the more than 2,100 mile
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Va n Wyck Ga ze tte FDR also entertained numerous dignitaries here including King George IV and Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The 290 acre national historic site also houses Roosevelt’s presidential library (the library and museum building were designed by FDR) and is part of the National Archive system as well. The site is open year round and tours are offered throughout the day from 10:30 to 4pm. The grounds are open sunrise to sunset seven days a week. The Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site is located at 4097 Albany Post Road (U.S.Rt.9), Hyde Park six miles north of Poughkeepsie. 845-229-9115. www.nps.gov/hofr Martin Van Buren National Historic Site: Lindenwald was the home of 8th President of the United States Martin Van Buren from 1841 until his death in 1862. Located in the town of Kinderhook, where Van Buren was also born in 1782, the mansion is located on 22 acres of land that was a part of his original land holdings. The mansion was originally built in the 1790s. Van Buren served briefly as Governor of New York in 1829 before becoming Secretary of State under President Andrew Jackson. Before his own election as president (1837-41) Van Buren also served as Jackson’s Vice President. The historic site’s ground and trails are open all year. Tours of Lindenwald are offered from late May through October and occur hourly between 9 and 4pm. Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site is considered a complete example of a “gilded age country place.”
Hyde Park Vanderbilt Mansion (Photo by Steve Kelman)
Val-Kill Entrance (Photo by Steve Kelman)
Called Hyde Park, the mansion was bought in 1895 by Frederick On March 14th author Douglas Brinkley will celebrate the launch Vanderbilt and his wife Louise, “to use as their spring and fall of his upcoming book Rightful Heritage, FDR and the Land of country estate.” A ginkgo tree on the property, planted in 1799, America, scheduled to take place at the Henry A. Wallace Visitor may be one of the oldest on the continent. Center located at Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic The mansion is open daily by guided tour only while the grounds Site. are free and open every day sunrise to sunset. On April 16 at 1pm, a three-mile hike on the Hyde Park Trail The Vanderbilt Mansion is located on 119 Vanderbilt Park Road between Vanderbilt National Historic Site and Home of Franklin (on RT 9), Hyde Park. 845-229-7770 www.nps.gov/vama D. Roosevelt is open to all. Meet at the Vanderbilt parking lot.
Thomas Cole National Historic Site The annual Val-Kill Picnic on June 4th at the Eleanor Roosevelt Cedar Grove in Catskill is the home of Thomas Cole (1801- National Historic Site features music, food, children’s activities, 1848), the painter whose landscape designs launched an art and square dancing. movement known as the Hudson River School. All National Park sites located in the Hudson Valley will be taking part in the White House’s “Every Kid in a Park” program The home and the studio are an affiliate site of the NPS. Guided tours of the main house and studio are offered May which runs from now until August 30th. through October. The Thomas Cole National Historic Site is The program invites all fourth graders to visit any national park located at 218 Spring Street, Catskill. 518-943-7465 in the Hudson Valley or the nation for that matter, for free. www.thomascole.org. Students who want to partake can simply log on to any NPS Here is a short list of some events/activities that will be taking site, complete an activity and obtain the pass. place in the Hudson River Valley as part of the 100th anniversary.
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Va n Wyck Gazette
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Spring 2016 Issue
June Prager - Poland to Poughkeepsie: Creating Theatre to Deal with the Past
Lewis Gardner
As it grew dark that evening, a young woman walked out of the ghetto of Lodz, Poland, where the Jewish population of the city had been confined after the Nazi invasion in 1939.
A guard stopped her. She swore at him in Polish and complained that he was delaying her return home after a long day of cleaning houses. He let her pass. She trudged on, holding her bundle of cleaning rags close to her chest. The woman was Sophie Salzer, a Jewish resident of Lodz, making her escape from the ghetto. Hidden in the bundle of rags was her baby, Yadwiga. The baby would grow up to be June Prager—director for the stage and resident of Poughkeepsie. It was only the beginning of a perilous journey. Sophie and Yadwiga made it across Poland to Russia—walking and getting rides when possible, with jewelry and money for bribes, with brave years in camps for displaced persons in the U.S.-occupied zone people hiding them—one night in a church. in Germany. Finally an American uncle sponsored their immigration June’s father, Morris, weeks earlier had left the family’s Lodz to the U.S., promising Sophie a job in his factory in Paterson, apartment to meet some friends on the street. As they stood New Jersey. talking, several German soldiers approached and, without warning, June’s sister, Sheila, was born in Paterson. Sophie worked as started shooting at the group of Jewish men. Satisfied that the a teacher and a cosmetician; Morris eventually found work as a men were dead, the soldiers walked on. salesman for a drug company. Morris had fallen to June earned degrees from Rutgers and taught high school in the street when the a number of New Jersey districts. She married and had a son, shooting started. The Todd, who has been involved in the art of Tai Chi for over 20 years others, all dead, were and teaches in South Florida. on top of him. He Meanwhile, she acted and directed in community theatre and stayed motionless decided to study in New York City. She had private coaching with until it was safe to Dustin Hoffman—before his break-through performance in The crawl out and hurry Graduate—and she studied directing with the legendary Lee home. Strasberg at the Actors Studio. Sophie convinced Besides directing plays at a number of NYC theatres, she him to escape from served as artistic director for several theatres in New York and Lodz and try to reach Philadelphia. Most recently, in 2010 she assumed leadership of Russia. He would Mirage Theatre Company, which from its founding in 1988 has leave that night and presented new and classic plays in and around New York City. she would follow Its latest production is Distant Survivors, based on Holocaust when she could. poetry by William Heyen. William Heyen It took months for Although June grew up knowing about her family’s loss of their Sophie and Yadwiga to reach Russia. There they were thrown in homeland and most of their European relatives, she only recently jail, since Sophie might be a spy. Convincing the Russians that found herself ready to confront the Holocaust through a theatrical she was just looking for her husband, they were released and— project. She worked on a collaboration with a Polish theater one more miracle—she found him. company and then discovered Heyen’s poetry. Since Morris was a medical student before the occupation, the Heyen, an award-winning poet and a longtime faculty member Russian army had accepted him as a medic. He had managed at SUNY colleges, wrote several books of poems based on his to stay close to the Polish border so Sophie would be able to find research about the Holocaust and on his own family history. His him. parents immigrated to New York State before World War II; his The rest of the war years were spent on a farm. June remembers uncles, SS soldiers stayed in Germany and died in the war. digging up potatoes to eat. After the war, the family spent five The poems present the perspective of a non-Jew trying to
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Heyen gave Prager permission to work on an adaptation of his poems as a work for the stage. They communicated by letter and email, and he came to one of the early performances. Prager says, “He was very pleased with what we had done.” The work is staged with five actors: a man on a quest for answers while visiting Germany; a Nazi soldier; and three survivors of concentration camps. I should point out that I have been part of the Distant Survivors cast since the first performance. The other actors and I have discussed how difficult it is to perform the play. The material is detailed and graphic in its depiction of the people who endured and survived, and those who did not. But we feel it is important to bear witness to the worst in human nature, both in the past and—by implication—in our own time. This is the best that theater can accomplish— beginning in artists’ memory and imagination, and involving an audience profoundly in a understand what happened, asking himself what he would have confrontation with the truth. done if his parents had stayed in Germany and he had been born Mirage Theatre Company will present Distant Survivors on a there. Would he have helped the victims? Would he have ignored tour of the Hudson Valley this spring. “We hope to present it in what was happening? New York City in the autumn,” Prager says. “Distant Survivors” cast in a performance last year—from left: Phillip X Levine, Matthew Bahl, Lew Gardner, Linda Roper, Ralph Cashen
Prager says, “I think Heyen was looking for some redemption To see a video clip of Distant Survivors and to read more, to offset the evil done by his people. I think more people should including how to book a performance, check the Mirage website do that, to accept responsibility.” at www.miragetheatrecompany.org or phone (347) 668-7666.
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Sail on Sailors I should start at the beginning. My good friend Bob Torsello gave me the idea for this story about the restoration of the ferry sloop Woody Guthrie while hanging at the Towne Crier. And I thought, “Hey yea, thanks Bob,” figuring I’d concentrate on the Woody and the Sloop Club, take some pictures and have a cool story. Then I imbibed a Newburgh Brown Ale with Jim Birmingham, who, like Bob, is one of the many steadfast and stalwart volunteers at the Beacon Sloop Club. Jim gave me the basics: How the Woody was undergoing major renovation for the first time since 1978. That the organization was tight on funds and most of the work shaping the ribs, restoring metal work while on a cold river in the Kingston Rondout was being done by those same volunteers. That the restoration was being overseen by shipwright Jim Kricker, who, along with Dan Taube (Dan later worked as a shipwright at the South Street Seaport) was among those who built the Woody in the first place. He explained how salt water corrodes metal and fresh water causes wood to rot, split, warp, and that because our beloved river, the Muhheakantuck, is by nature tidal from the south and fresh from the north, the Woody’s repairs were going to be extensive, and therefore, expensive (approximately 400K.)
Guard mandated restoration (costing 850K, being done simultaneously on the Roundout) and wouldn’t sail before June. Then their Executive Director resigned. I got in touch with the Hudson River Maritime Museum because someone suggested I do and Lana Chassman, the museum’s PR director, kindly put me in touch with all the folks you’ll hear from throughout this story of dedication and community. Russ Lange, Executive Director at HRMM, who, through our discussion, especially helped me to finally get my head around the whole thing and realize I couldn’t tell one story without the others. He also put the sounds of Hudson River shipbuilding into my ears and imagination. Like so many things we seem to be on the verge of losing or destroying or want only neglecting for the next shiny thing, hopefully a little history will pull us back from the brink. Here goes: Today, the Clearwater is, and has long been, America’s Environmental Flagship. But in 1966 she was initially perceived by friends and foes alike as another of Pete’s crazy dreams. In those redeeming and triumphant fifty years (thirty five of which the HRMM has pursued its own educational mission, very often under the radar and underfunded) the great sloop has withstood not only numerous ideological and financial threats, but also looting, arson, and, of course, the Hudson itself.
waters, Pete was imagining a little sister for the great sloop to be run and maintained by the local volunteer Beacon Sloop Club. As Alan Thomas, BSC’s press man relates, the Woody, built by the Bearsville Woodworking Collective (with initial costs taken from Pete and Toshi’s grandchildren’s college fund) splashed down in the historic Rondout Creek and set sail to provide free access to the river for all. But that’s recent history. We all know how far back the river reaches and are grateful for it.
Woody
But let’s be honest. Most, if not all of us not hands-on involved in the river’s stewardship, take it for granted and often cross its spans begrudgingly, thinking nothing of the Iroquios and Lenape who first peopled its shores or the19th Century ocean bound ships built in Newburgh or the lighthouses at Saugerties, Rondout, Tarrytown, and Stony Point. We think nothing of the constant repair of wooden ships and the hearty generations that maintained them. Nor do we think about the numerous sloop-wrecks Then news broke of the Clearwater As the 70’s unwound and the Clearwater organization cancelling their fiftieth festival was shining a glaring spotlight on the on the river bottom, a fount of American and that they were behind on their Coast concentration of PCBs in the Hudson’s history yet to be fully explored.
HRMM Exhibit It is this, along with their unbounded environmental importance, that makes the HRMM and its newly opened Riverport Wooden Boat School and each past and future sail of Clearwater and Woody - with school kids, adults, apprentices - a democratic feat (some might dare say a socialist feat) with people from all walks of life making sure the river, and its deep heritage, remain vibrant and alive. “When one looks at a project like this it looks incredibly daunting. But you have to focus on individual tasks and that tends to make things, at least in my addled brain, more understandable to all,” Jim Kricker advises, in a calm, reassuring tone, as he and Clearwater captain Annika Savio show yours truly around the tent sheltered Clearwater on a recent biting and blustery river afternoon. “A wooden ship like this,” he says, part historian, part master craftsman, “is the result of a long evolutionary process of shipbuilding.”
into the sunset. It’s a wooden boat, built in layers out of traditional materials (domestic white oak and a dense, tropical wood from Guyana - Greenheart - for the foundation timbers.) They always need rebuilding.” “It’s unusual and disconcerting to see each boat out of the water with their bellies open,” Lisa Cline, HRMM’s chief operations officer, warns me before I tour the boats with Russ.
Jim Kricker
It certainly is. “The history of wooden shipbuilding in this area goes back two hundred and fifty years, right up to the Korean War,” Russ Lange begins, pestered by a lingering postflu cough. “ Wooden ships don’t set off magnetically triggered mines and torpedoes.”
“It’s never easy. But it is doable.” Annika quietly adds. And I must admit to them, you, and myself how they and the handful of volunteers and contractors bustling about the Clearwater’s broken hull stay so I learned quickly that Russ unruffled with so much at stake is a tutorial loves to talk about the on patience to me. Hudson, the HRMM, and “The challenge,” she continues, “is that working riverfront cities, and while we’re fixing one section, we have to it was my unbounded pleasure to let him think about how we’ll work around the roll. “About three years ago we partnered repaired section to fix another section in separately with the folks from Clearwater the future when we can afford to. We’re and the Sloop Club to do the restorations working below the water line now, but within here. Jim led the way with the initial five or six years we’ll need to do work above restoration plans and we began to think of the waterline.” ourselves as more than a museum but as “People shouldn’t think that once this a Riverport for shipbuilding and education restoration is finished we sail off happily and as a boater’s welcome center for day
Annika Savio trippers and the cruise ships that sail up and down the river.” “We have romantic visions of sloops now, but back in the 19th century they were equivalent to tractor trailers.” He informs. “It eventually became cheaper to build new ones than repair the old. So they were scuttled and sunk.”
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Spring 2016 Issue was three and she wanted to take her kids out on the same boat someday and well, that turned it by a 2-1 vote for restoration.” The little things. “After several estimates and bids, what we had hoped would happen, happened. Jim Kricker gave us a rough estimate of which we had about half the finances raised. We then worked out a deal with the HR Maritime Museum who built the Ralph Allen Riverport Boat Shed to house the Woody for us.”
“The shed was built almost entirely by Jack Weeks (Project Supervisor & HRMM Board member) and Ralph Allen (HRMM Clearwater volunteer) both of whom are in their 70’s and 80’s respectively.” (As an aside, Don tells me that Cyrus Hamlin, architect of both “Three things needed to come together Larger than ourselves. sloops, is 95. Obviously working on boats for all this to happen and fortunately for all “It would have cost less to build a new must hold a secret to longevity we both they did,” he explains. “First was the boat.” Don emphasizes, echoing the same restoration of the Woody and Clearwater. sentiments Russ Lange mentioned earlier. muse!) “The oaks used were from Jack’s land and milled in his barn.” Second was Jim Kricker’s interest in “And we had a vigorous, becoming a part of the Riverport and third nearly two year discuswas transforming his business into a sion - democracy/and working, educational vehicle while creating anarchy in action you a working waterfront.” might say. One faction Since this whole journey started with the wanted to rebuild and Woody, I had to get back to it. And as a restore. The other wanted spectacular Hudson Valley sunset tinted to go with a new boat.” Beacon harbor, I met up with Don Raskopf. “We got a price to build “It’s like Pete always said, ‘It’s the little things,’ ” Don emphasizes, as this Clearwater and Sloop Club board member/volunteer stokes the fireplaces at the Sloop Club Clubhouse in preparation of a presentation and discussion by Russ Lange about creating a sustainable, human economy for our riverfront cities through a network of partnered non-profit organizations.
a new replica, but it was, I think, Tinya (Pete’s daughter) who turned the tide. She couldn’t recall the exact Japanese term Toshi taught her, but she told us of the concept that an object, over time, gets worn but takes on the soul of the user. It wasn’t so much her parents on the Woody, she If you haven’t caught on by now, for all said. But every time she saw the boat she these folks it’s more than the river. More could see Don Taube’s work.” than the environment. It’s about the com“Then the young daughter of one of folks munity and what we can all do to make that I sail with said her dad had been taking her community larger than the Hudson Valley. and her sister out on the Woody since she
Clearwater “Once we got the Woody up there last September, Jim and his crew got started right away. But when the Clearwater got there, work shifted to her needs simply because if the Woody doesn’t sail this year it’s very disappointing. If Clearwater doesn’t, it’s a catastrophe. We lose $25,000 a month on school-related sails alone. So it’s been volunteer work on the Woody since then.”
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Va n Wyck Ga ze tte
Clearwater “Clearwater and the BSC are sisters with the same parents but different personalities,” Alan Thomas clarifies. “Clearwater is professional, structured. BSC is slightly anarchistic and grassroots to the core.” “Everyone contributes time to both organizations,” he continues, “but no one worked harder than Pete,” he warmly recalls of his thirty-eight year association. “That we are all able to learn skills outside our comfort zones, be partners with HRMM, and be part of a living exhibit while preserving Pete’s legacy is hard to put a price on.” • A series of small concerts and open boat/Potluck Days are planned for Clearwater. The next OpenBoat/Potluck Days are Saturday, March 19, 4-8 pm and Saturday, April 23 12-4 pm at the Hudson River Maritime Museum on the Kingston
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Rondout. For more information on membership or donating to Clearwater, please visit www.clearwater.org • The Beacon Sloop Club meets every first Friday at 7:30 pm with a potluck at 6:30. For more information on membership or donating to BSC, please visit www.beaconsloop.org • The annual BSC Strawberry Festival is Sunday, June 12, 2016 12-5pm • The Hudson River Maritime Museum is open in March Thursday - Friday 11:00 - 4:00 pm HRMM will close from March 26 - April for exhibit installation and re-opens April 30 for the 2016 season. Open daily 11:00 am - 5:00 pm. For information on membership or donating or volunteering at HRMM, please visit www.hrmm.org (Photos by Mike Jurkovic)
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Phrenology and architecture wouldn’t appear to have much to do with one another, but Orson Squire Fowler, a Fishkill resident from 1846 to 1854, was a pioneer in both.
Fowler’s Folly
Phrenology is a discipline based on the concept that specific brain areas govern specific functions, and that understanding the physical qualities or “bumps” of a person’s skull as determined by touching and measuring can lead to an understanding of that individual’s psychological makeup. Today, phrenology is discarded as a “pseudoscience,” but in the 1800s they didn’t append the prefix “pseudo” to the discipline. Fowler was a leading proponent of phrenology, and his clients included many prominent Americans: a President (Garfield), a Chief Justice (Holmes), an author (Twain), a couple of poets (Whitman and Emerson) and a nurse and Red Cross founder (Barton). Architecture, of course, has been with us ever since the first prehistoric builder thought about putting a roof over his head. Born in the western New York State town of Cohocton in 1809, Fowler graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts in 1834 and began a career as a lecturer and author on issues of health, popular education and social reform. One such issue was phrenology. With his brother, Lorenzo, he opened an office for phrenological studies in New York City. Orson, Lorenzo and Lorenzo’s wife, Lydia, lectured frequently on the subject. Indeed, one historian gives them credit “in large measure” for the mid-19th century popularity of phrenology. The First Octagon House Fowler and his wife apparently liked Fishkill, so they decided to
The Armour-Stiner House, also known as the Carmer Octagon House, Irvington, NY
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Va n Wyck Ga ze tte build their dream home there. A self-styled architect, Fowler believed that a circular home used space more efficiently than a traditional four-sided home, and would be cooler in the summer, warmer in the winter, and sunnier all year round. But since round walls are hard to build, he determined that eight straight walls formed in an octagon was a practical compromise. In 1848 he even wrote and published a book on the subject called The Octagon House: A Home for All. The book sold well and the concept of the octagon house concept became, in at least a small way, a national fad. According to Anthony Musso, who wrote about Fowler and his octagon house in the Poughkeepsie Journal in 2012, the site Fowler chose is currently the location of the Adams Fairacres Farm market on Route 9 in what is now the Town of Wappinger. (At the time, Wappinger had not been created yet; the site chosen was in Fishkill.) Construction began in 1848 and took five years. It’s said that Fowler, his brother and sister-in-law toured the country lecturing on phrenology, and that Orson used his share of the earnings to build the house. When it came to construction, Fowler didn’t skimp. His octagon house consisted of three main floors, a full above-ground basement, and a glass-enclosed cupola atop a flat roof. Overall, it was at least 60 feet high and commanded a view of the Hudson River. Each of its eight sides was 32 feet long, so the floor space, per floor, was over 3000 square feet. A central staircase led to the second and third floors, each with eight bedrooms plus dressing rooms and triangular-shaped closets, and ultimately to the cupola. The exterior walls were a kind of poured concrete, a new technology quickly embraced by Fowler. Outside the walls, verandahs connected by their own staircases ringed each of the three floors.
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Overall the house contained some 60 rooms, but in those days, closets, dressing rooms and “indoor water closets” (i.e., bathrooms), a major innovation for the time, were all included in the room count. The first floor had four main rooms serving a variety of purposes. Folding doors separated them, and when the doors were all open the complete first floor could accommodate parties for up to 200 people. So why was Fowler’s Octagon House thought of as a “folly”? It probably began when, soon after the Fowlers moved in, they moved out, heading back to New York City. For the next decade or so they found renters for the house, and during the Civil War it housed a military school. Later a series of owners ran it as a boarding house. Several residents reportedly caught and died of a contagious disease, which didn’t help future rentals. The house was abandoned by the mid-1870s, condemned as a health hazard in the late 1880s, and demolished in 1897. Nearby Examples Nonetheless, as a consequence primarily of Fowler’s book, some 5,000 octagon houses were built throughout the United States and Canada, and about 400 of these exist today. One is the ArmourStiner House in Irvington, New York. Built in 1860 by financier Paul J. Armour, himself a follower of phrenology, this house probably had a standard mansard-style roof at first. But in 1872, tea merchant Joseph Stiner acquired the house and added a renaissance-style domed roof and cupola, probably the only octagon house anywhere to be so equipped. Stiner also added so many other detailed enhancements that one expert on Hudson River villas compared being in the cupola to “being in a Jules Verne spaceship”. The house is privately preserved to this day.
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Spring 2016 Issue and neighbors complained that it was causing blight to the neighborhood. Faced with a dilemma, the City of Danbury purchased the property in 2015 and announced plans to restore it for use as a city office. Life after the Fad Orson Fowler continued his career as an author, lecturer, and all-around Renaissance man long after leaving Fishkill. In addition to phrenology and architecture, his interests included women’s rights, children’s rights, temperance, hydropathy, mesmerism, the benefits of fruits and vegetables, and sex. His magnum opus, Creative and Sexual Science, was intended to deal with all subjects on which sex had influence, and certainly appears to, as it contains no less than 695 chapters! By the 1870s all of Fowler’s pursuits had languished, so he did what many 19th century Americans did: he went west. In 1887 he founded a colony of fruit growers in a small town in southeastern Colorado. The townspeople were so impressed that they changed the name of their town to Fowler, Colorado, which it remains today. Soon afterward, Fowler fell ill and returned to New York, where he died.
Octagon House in Danbury, Connecticut
Another nearby example, at 21 Spring Street in Danbury, Connecticut, had a less auspicious beginning. Built in 1852-53, it’s much smaller than Fowler’s original, with ten rooms in all on three finished levels, plus an octagonal cupola on a flat roof. (The room count is probably determined using a more modern convention.) It was built by Daniel Starr, a plumber, along with his brother, a building contractor, and it’s believed that the two So while Orson Fowler’s legacy may not be as enduring as he men were inspired after attending a lecture given by the Fowlers had hoped, he is still remembered. Many of his books, including in Danbury. Creative and Sexual Science, can be reviewed electronically, and Over the next 150 years, the building saw many ownership a 1973 reprint of The Octagon House: A House for All can be changes, but it has been vacant for the fifteen years. It was last purchased new through Amazon. Was it really a folly? Order your purchased in 2006, with the new owner planning to restore it, but copy now and find out. nothing was done. Uninhabited, the building gradually deteriorated
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Va n Wyck Ga ze tte
Winter Heartbreak, Hope Springs… Maybe Honest to goodness, my husband Adrea Gibbs special ordered her. When he dropped off her pregnant mother, he made sure the staff was well aware that if one was born, it was his. He called every single day to see if the mother had given birth. It was getting to the point of ridiculous. We already had three, but he wanted a fourth. Oddly enough, I answered the phone the one morning he had yet to make his daily call. His request was fulfilled. A calico kitten had been born. That was how we got Angela, the final member of our cat tribe. As a tiny kitten she was absolutely adorable trying to keep up with the others, working her hardest to master the cat door that accessed the basement where the food, water, and litter was kept, all on her own. She would try to climb up and push time and time again. A major triumph when she finally succeeded.
She also liked to go into the craft room, where she wasn’t permitted, but understandably it was hard to resist. And, the baskets, yarn, ribbon, plush, and other fun things that probably come close as possible to being a cat heaven here on earth. She was constantly getting chased out of there. It was her game and hers alone. If ever we needed to round everyone up for one reason or another, Angela perfected her ability to hide back there. Calico makes for an amazing camouflage in a room filled with colorful fabrics and all variety of textures. She became quite adept at playing hide and seek, but when found, never fussed or struggled. She just allowed herself to be gently chastised while getting cuddled and taken to wherever she needed to be. One particularly memorable moment was when we searched high and low for her in all her favorite places, including multiple trips in and out of the craft room. Finally, she was discovered. Angela had tucked herself into a pile of stuffed animals with only her head poking out. It was straight out of “E.T.” She sat so quietly staring straight ahead eyes opened wide, not moving a muscle, even as we stood there laughing hysterically. On occasion it would come up and we would laugh as easily as when it had happened. The only regret? We didn’t have the forethought to take a picture. The image, however, remains indelible in our minds.
My husband would go upstairs to the bedroom and she would follow him like a puppy, made sure she was noticed, then flop, expectantly waiting for the belly rub she always got. As she grew, she came into her own, in particular, making sure her older siblings were well aware that she was as capable of running things as any of them were. She could be a bully over some things, but her nature was to settle into one of her Angela was the snuggler of the tribe. favorites spots, knowing that when passed Those who love cats know their personalities by or came into that room, she would be are very strong and, with that, they either the recipient of some well-deserved love love to be held and cuddled or want nothing and rubs.
to do with it. Unless, of course, it is their decision, which is all a part of cat’s charm and charisma. She was always amiable and spent endless hours helping my husband watch football and movies by holding him dutifully down in his chair. The perfect kitty pin and excuse for not answering the phone or helping with chores. She also loved coming upstairs at night and hanging out first in the bathroom, then in the bedroom, patiently waiting for me to finish my evening activities before getting into bed. It was a very specifically timed ritual. She knew exactly when I was settled, then came up to take her place. Getting as close as possible, often reaching out with her soft paw to place it on my hand as I typed or read, nuzzling into the crook of my arm to position herself in a way that she could look up at me with her big eyes, purring all the while.
Angela My husband called me a cat thief, as when I was away on business, Angela’s evening location of choice would be stretched out alongside him on the bed to catch the movie du jour. When I was home, she made a show of purposefully jumping over him, often landing where it was not particularly appreciated by my spouse, on her way to curl up next to me. It was a nightly tradition in the same way that waking up every morning you could be sure that
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Spring 2016 Issue
her little white hind paws were peeking out from under my husband’s side of the bed. He was certain, in spite of her making an overture of jumping over him every night when I was there, that she was, as he liked to call her, his little “watch cat.” Angela did seem to be a protector of him, of sorts. The two of them had a special relationship, of that there was never any doubt. She would come when he called her and when she sitting with him, she always looked up at him with adoring eyes. She was his baby. It was as if she knew, from the start, that he had really wanted her. He had, after all, placed a special order. I remember how we raced down to see the kittens following the call. On the third trip, when offered to hold her, he refused because she was so tiny and he didn’t want to hurt her. But he couldn’t stop saying how beautiful she was. When she came home, after who knows how many visits to see her, Angela was small enough curl up in his palm for months. But, as all things do, eventually she grew up, a beautiful, fluffy, lovable calico with just a smidgeon of attitude and so much love to share. I think we forget, sometimes, about the hold our pets have over us, especially when they are embraced as our family,
and every day they bring so much joy into our lives. Day in and day out, through thick and thin, they are by our sides at the ready to sympathize or celebrate. They fold into the fabric of our day-to-day existence, sometimes more noticeable for when they aren’t where they usually are than their consistency at being present. And we worry and fuss over them when they aren’t acting like themselves doing what we can to comfort and heal and return with us to our grounding patterns of normalcy. Sometimes all the love in the world doesn’t help. I recently returned for a very short business trip and didn’t think much about the fact that Angela wasn’t at the basement door to greet me as she did every time one of us came home. It was her job. I would count on hearing her calling out from behind the closed door leading garage to basement. But I was juggling my bags and the few items requested for pick-up while on the way home, so heading upstairs I dropped everything and sat down, chit chatting all the while. Suddenly, something changed. The house, I noticed, was eerily quiet. My husband, who is disposed to be a chatterbox, looked at me and with a hushed tone, the kind reserved for information you don’t want to share, but to which you are obligated, told me that we had lost Angela that morning. He quickly continued he hadn’t wanted to tell me earlier, knowing I had work to do
and a long drive ahead of me. He also knew he had to tell me as soon as I got inside as, like clockwork, I would be calling for her and the other cats. He knew he had to beat me to the punch. And a definite punch, it was. Everything inside of me swelled and poured forth. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. In fact, I wasn’t even sure what was hearing. But all I needed to do was look at my husband’s tear-filled eyes for confirmation that what he said was the absolute, honest truth. Our baby was gone. There would be no snuggling tonight or any other night. That part of daily life had vanished with her as easily as if a random breeze snuck through a crack to snuff out the brightest candle in the room. He had found her that morning in one of her favorite places and thought she had been sleeping, but soon realized that was not the case. He took care of her as gently and lovingly as he could with his little girl, taking back to the same vet where she had been born. I was glad that he was there to say good-bye to the sweet calico that had stolen his heart. To say this doesn’t hurt would be a boldfaced lie. To say that I will be able to just pick up and move forward would be likewise. To say that when I come up the stairs during my coming and goings with laundry or
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Va n Wyck Gazette paperwork and not be able to take that brief moment to pet her soft fur and tickle her under the chin will be quickly forgotten would be the biggest untruth of it all. Angela was a living, breathing piece of our existence and that does not pass lightly. Things never will be the same as they were with her little presence lighting our home. I won’t be able to do a sit-up in the basement without wishing imagining her “helping” me through my exercises, walking around and through my arms like some obstacle course just for her entertainment during push-ups. Having the treadmill was well-warmed following her requisite cat nap on the belt. She won’t be outside of the shower waiting for me to get out, rolling over requesting a belly rub, or sleeping in front of the fire in some random position that always had us peeking for a look over the coffee table and laughing. Her feline family has been looking for her, too, but soon enough they will realize she won’t be there anymore to share the slice of winter sunshine on the floor they all too happily shared. And when I look at my husband, sitting in his chair, and see he is not really watching the TV, but at the drape she liked to tuck up under to watch the birds and snowflakes, there will be no question in my mind of the impact Angela had on all of us in this home.
it doesn’t make losing a pet, no, a family member any easier.
VALENTINE Angela Angel There are those who will say that what I am feeling, joyous at having had her in our lives for much too short a time, guilty at not having been able to do anything for her, and tearful each time I crawl into bed or get out of the shower because she isn’t there, is silly. It’s just an animal. But anyone who loves their pet knows what a hole it makes in both your heart and your soul. It isn’t easy to get over…nor should it be. In the dead of winter, when everything outside is cold and sharp and cloaked in savage white, Angela kept us warm just by her presence. I feel a bit like my insides are the very reflection of the cold, snow-covered outside at the moment. I will eventually thaw out, but for the moment, even with the comfort of our other cats and my wonderful husband,
I remind myself that spring will come and with it time will have passed and I will be in a better place. But for now, I will allow myself to cry at strange moments, keep to myself, and mourn for our little baby whose life was over much too soon. When I cast a quick glance at my husband, seeing his own struggle wrapping around his mind what has happened, I know we both need time to grieve as much as we need to be thankful that we got a chance to have Angela be in our lives. Angela, our sweet girl, we are all the better for having you and will see you at the Rainbow Bridge. You more than lived up to being a special order kitty and, for that, you will always be cherished as the embodiment of true and unconditional love. Good bye. We love you.
Adrea Gibbs is a freelance writer with more than 20 years experience writing for a variety of publications. Adrea’s illustrative work can be seen in Tummy Mommy Heart Mommy by Jennifer Kramer, Lunch Money by Eric Andrist, and the soon-to-be-released Delphi the Dolphin’s Gigantic Discovery by Amy Gollenberg.
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Spring 2016 Issue
Self Defense
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People are more scared than ever in today’s world. Afraid of kidnappers, muggers, rapists, terrorists—you name it. We can’t change what’s out there, Katie Maus but we can prepare ourselves to deal with it. It’s very important for people, that’s men, women, and children, to be prepared for anything, especially with all of the crazy awful things that have been happening lately. Quite obviously, the best way to stay safe is to avoid an attack. As Master Ralph Schwartz, 6th Degree Blackbelt, says “The most important thing a person can learn is how NOT to be a victim. All physical tactics are used only when avoidance is unsuccessful.” Master Schwartz, along with his wife Marian, a 2nd Degree Blackbelt herself, taught a women’s self-defense course along with their regular Tae Kwon Do class through Wappingers Continuing Education at Fishkill Plains Elementary School for over ten years. A retired parole officer, army vet, and long-time Tae Kwon Do instructor, Master Schwartz has passed a wealth of knowledge on to his many students, myself included. Many of the tips listed in this article come from experience as his student. How to avoid potential threats: • Remember: you can never be too cautious. •
Try not to travel alone, especially after dark.
•
Always have your phone readily available to call for help.
•
Make sure someone always knows where you are, where you’re going, and how long you’ll be gone.
•
Carry mace or a knife, or walk with a key between your fingers (to enhance the sting of a punch). This way, you’ll both feel more confident and be prepared should you need to defend yourself.
•
Don’t walk around with your headphones on and the music blasting; it is important to be thoroughly aware of your surroundings.
What to do if attacked: Most importantly, if someone tries to steal from you, whether it be a wallet, phone, necklace, or anything else, give it to them. All material goods are likely replaceable, but even if not, they are NOT more important than your life. Only if someone tries to hurt you should you engage in combat. BE LOUD. Yell “FIRE,” “RAPE,” anything to get someone’s attention. You’ll fluster your attacker as well as possibly attract help. “If you’re fighting someone, expect to get hit.” Similarly, if they have a gun, expect to get shot, a knife, expect to get cut.
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Know where to hit someone. “The belt means hit below: groins, knees and insteps are preferred targets. Don’t be afraid to gouge [eyes] and bite.” Your goal is to escape; so any strike that will stun or take away the ability to walk is exactly what you want to do. Remember that just about anything can be a weapon. Keys can be held between fingers when punching or swung on a lanyard at
Va n Wyck Ga ze tte an attacker’s face or groin. Heavy bags can be used to strike as well. Finally, don’t worry about hurting someone. Of course, we don’t want to harm another person; but, “if forced to defend yourself in a street situation, remember that the attacker has chosen you to hurt him. He sought you out, not the other way around.” If someone is trying to harm you, you must be willing to do what you need to in order to protect yourself and those around you. In today’s world we live in fear. Women are afraid to walk to their cars after work, students scared to walk across campus alone. Being afraid is what these people— bullies, terrorists, criminals, villains, call them what you will—it’s what they want. While we cannot rid the world of bad people, we can better prepare ourselves to deal with them when we need to. If we feel prepared, we are less afraid. Taking a self-defense class is beneficial to everyone. Reading ideas is helpful, but trying them out in a physical situation helps you to know what your body can do. Big or small, everyone is able to defend themselves somehow; you just need to learn! I highly recommend taking a class. Any kind: a one-time self-defense seminar, a weekly martial arts class, kickboxing! Learning anything you can about how to defend yourself will give you confidence and peace of mind, even though it is ideal that you never need to use what your learn. It is important to be prepared to protect ourselves, help others, and live without being afraid to walk down the street at night.
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