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Celebrate good times, come on.

Kingston's Pirate Invasion

By Anne Pyburn
1/12/12 - 11:44 pm

Among Irene's many losses were the supplies that food activist Diane Reeder of Kingston had assembled for her snow day lunch program for area children. Reeder, executive director of the Queens Galley, strives to make sure that no one in the area goes hungry, least of all children on snowy days, and she was pretty sure she knew a few people who would agree.

Of this need was born the Shiver Me Timbers Pirate Invasion Online Auction and Treasure Hunt, a fundraiser for Queens Galley that runs through Sunday, January 15.

The "treasure hunt" part of the auction is rather ingenious: Bid sheets for the auction are posted in stores and restaurants throughout Kingston, with QR codes that can be read by a smartphone. Scanning the code reveals hidden local discounts and deals.

It wasn't a hard sell to the business community, says Reeder's co-conspirator Holly Christiana of Kerhonkson.  Read more

Shandaken Pan Arts festival comes to a venue near you

By Andrea Girolamo
1/5/12 - 5:37 pm

Native Tongue Dance (Bill Barrett, lead singer, shown above with Maria Todaro at Mama's Boy in Phoenicia) headlines Saturday's Shandaken Pan Arts Festival kick-off. 

The Shandaken Pan Arts festival kicks off 10 days of music, art and writing in venues spread around the town of Shandaken with Native Tongue Dance getting things started this Saturday night at Phoenicia's The Arts Upstairs at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $5.

Highlights include studio visits, available by appointment all festival long (a complete list is available at the festival's website), a "bonfire rave" featuring a conch shell orchestra, and a performance by the Phoenicia choir to close the 10-day party, with events scattered in between that celebrate the area's history and prodigious creative output.

Correction: An earlier version of this story identified "Native Tongue" instead of "Native Tongue Dance" as the performers for Saturday night's festivities. Apologies for any confusion this may have caused.

Phoenicia rings in the holidays

By Tom Rinaldo
12/16/11 - 10:18 am

A pair of medieval fiddles built by John Bromka, half of the Bells and Motley duo who will be playing at the Empire State Railway Museum this Saturday.

Something magical happens when a community actually celebrates together; when it’s
 not just going through the motions because that’s what you’re supposed to do, or simply
 what you have to do in order to make a few additional sales. That is not to say that 
shoppers aren’t being seriously courted here right about now. Merchants in Phoenicia, 
just like everywhere else, do need extra sales around Christmastime to keep their
 businesses solvent for the year.  Read more

Watching ice freeze in East Meredith

By Lissa Harris
12/13/11 - 3:53 pm
See video

Today, the Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith, Delaware County, did its first "ice check" of the season. It's a winter ritual that culminates in the annual Ice Harvest, a festive occasion each February that involves kids wielding traditional ice-cutting saws, a couple of very large draft horses, and hot cider all around.

There are probably more exciting things to do than watch ice freeze. (Even in Delaware County.) But the narrator in the video above is genuinely excited about the first inch of solid ice on the pond, and it's a little bit contagious.

In all seriousness: If the museum keeps taking detailed notes on when the pond begins to freeze and the thickness of the ice on various days of the year, in a hundred years, they'll have a pretty impressive data set with which to document local climate change.

Halloween goes to the dogs

By Julia Reischel
11/1/11 - 8:09 am

Two canine participants in Sunday's Halloween parade in Phoenicia. Photo by Bruce Barry.

 

Saugerties Zombie Crawl

By Lissa Harris
10/22/11 - 1:06 pm
See video

Footage from the First Annual Saugerties Zombie Crawl in 2010, by Zachary Coons.

The undead walk again in Saugerties, as the town plays host to a crew of shambling, rotting, groaning zombies. Tonght, October 22, is the second annual Zombie Crawl -- and this year, the event is raising proceeds for Hurricane Irene victims.

At least one thing will be live: Music. Kingston funk-rockers Voodelic will play Dave's Wine and Coffee House, and Tyrannosaurus Rocks will host "Zomstock" at the Donlon Auditorium.

Want to avoid ending up as a reanimated corpse? Head to the Village Apothecary, which will be handing out doses of zombie cure. Or if you're resigned to your fate, join the undead crew at the Partition Street Wine Shop, Main Street Restaurant or the Dutch Ale House, all of which are serving zombie-themed cocktails.

By 10pm, most of the crawling horrors will end up at the Donlon, where there will be a costume contest, presided over by last year's winner, Zombie Gaga.  Read more

The Apple Project: Reviving a New York State cidermaking tradition

By Lissa Harris
10/19/11 - 10:54 am

Pink Pearl apple at Montgomery Place Orchards, an orchard and cidery in Red Hook, NY on the Cider Route. Photo from Montgomery Place's website.

The Apple Project, a scion of local farm advocacy group Glynwood, is sparking a revival of old-school cidermaking in upstate New York and the Hudson Valley. (And by old-school cider, we're referring to what the rest of the world outside of the United States thinks of when they hear the word "cider" -- a tart, effervescent, fermented elixir that bears little resemblance to the sweet brown stuff that comes in plastic half-gallon jugs at the supermarket.)

The Apple Project's founders hope that by encouraging a revival of traditional cidermaking in the Hudson Valley, they can spur the development of a high-value product for local farmers, help increase local apple biodiversity, and encourage farm tourism in the region.  Read more

Brauhaus on the mountain

By Julia Reischel
10/18/11 - 11:05 am

Belleayre Mountain and the German-American Club of the Northern Catskills hosting their annual Oktoberfest celebration at Belleayre Ski Center last Saturday. Photo by Mary McKeon.

O Positive Festival returns to Kingston this weekend

By Lissa Harris
10/6/11 - 11:24 am

A century or two ago, country doctors were likely to take a good portion of their pay in things like chickens and vegetables.

Today, the idea of bartering for healthcare is alive and well in our own backyard -- and attracting a lot of attention, thanks to the artists, musicians, healthcare providers and other folks behind Kingston's O+ festival, now in its second year. The festival starts Friday, October 7, and continues through Sunday, October 9.

The concept of O+ is simple: Get a bunch of local healthcare providers to agree to barter their services for art and music, find artists who want to participate, and throw a massive citywide party. Last year, the idea proved to be a smashing success, and the festival attracted plenty of attention from local and national press.

This year's festival is "better, not bigger," said co-organizer Alexandra Marvar, who said the festival organizers had more applicants than one weekend could cram in, both performers and local healthcare providers.

"There are more doctors than we can even put to use in our weekend clinic," she said.  Read more

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Windham's 2011 Autumn Affair - Resolve and Celebration

By Walter Severini
9/30/11 - 11:20 am

Photos from Windham Chamber of Commerce website.

The recent flooding from Irene and Lee has showed that tragedy can join people in positive ways.  In the hard-hit town of Windham, many people have been talking about how the floods were not going to affect the Windham Autumn Affair.  They were right: The Windham Autumn Affair will proceed as planned Columbus Day Weekend.

Don Muccilli, Vice Chairman of the Windham Chamber of Commerce, sent me an email about the significance of this year's festival that I share with you below.  Read more

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