| Watershed Post

Meteorites and stardust at Bennett

Astronomer and Woodstock local Bob Berman visited Bennett Intermediate School in Boiceville on January 30, bringing meteorites and a spectroscope to Bennett's after-school science club.

Berman is the author of The Sun's Heartbeat and other astronomy books, and the director of the Overlook Observatory in Woodstock. Check out his website here.

Ulster BOCES Community Relations staffer Valerie Havas (who also works as a publicist for the Onteora School District) was onhand to take photos of the students checking out Berman's tools of the astronomical trade. She shared a few of her photos with the Watershed Post.

Above, Berman watches as Gracie Foster looks at a cloud through a spectroscope. Below, Samuel Buono examines a meteor.

Photos by Valerie Havas/Ulster BOCES Community Relations. Used with permission.

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Congressman Chris Gibson opens new local offices

Above: Congressman Chris Gibson listens to Olga and Ivan Orisek of Forestburgh at his Liberty office open house on Wednesday, January 30. Photo by Jason Dole.

Though he's been in office since 2011, Congressman Chris Gibson (R-Kinderhook) is still a fresh face to much of the newly-created 19th Congressional District.

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Ulster exec delivers State of the County address

On Thursday at 6:30pm, Ulster County executive Mike Hein delivered his annual "State of the County" address at SUNY Ulster in Stone Ridge. The event was originally scheduled for Monday, January 28, but was rescheduled due to weather.

Below: The text of Hein's speech.

Ulster County 2013 State of the County Address by Watershed Post

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Government

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mike hein

SUNY Ulster

After flood and fire, Livingston Manor looks ahead

Above: Helen Budrock, Community Planner for Sullivan Renaissance, addresses the community members gathered in Livingston Manor's Presbyterian Church hall for last week's Visioning Workshop. Nearly 80 people attended. Photo by Jason Dole.

Last Thursday evening, nearly 80 Livingston Manor residents braved frigid temperatures to plan the future of their community, rocked by recent flooding, fire and the loss of many beloved local businesses. They packed the Livingston Manor Presbyterian Church for the first in a series of Community Visioning Workshops organized by members of Sullivan Renaissance, the Livingston Manor Chamber of Commerce, and the Sullivan County Division of Planning.

The workshops were planned last autumn, when Marge Feuerstein and her fellow Sullivan Renaissance volunteers in Livingston Manor began looking for help. They had wrapped up another successful season landscaping, planting, weeding, and dead-heading flowers, but they knew their hamlet needed more. Others kept offering advice on what the town needed next.

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This Weekend: Ice Harvest Festival at Hanford Mills Museum

Above: An ice check at the mill pond, conducted earlier this month.

Right now, at 4 pm, it is 51 degrees in New Kingston. Never fear, fans of actual winter, the temperatures will be dropping back down to the 20s on Friday, just in time for this Saturday's ice harvest festival at the Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith. According to organizers, the festival is a recreation of a winter activity that was essential a century ago. Children and adults can walk out on the frozen mill pond and help cut blocks of ice using vintage ice saws. The ice will then be hauled by horse-drawn sled and packed in a traditional ice house. Other activities include a hot soup buffet, horse-drawn sleigh rides, children’s activities, outdoor firepits and more.

For more events coming up around the Catskills, see the Watershed Post's event calendar.

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Hanford Mills Museum

Catskills events

ice harvest

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Forecasters warn of high winds and possible flooding

National Weather Service forecasters are warning Catskills residents that high winds are expected to develop tonight and tomorrow, increasing the risk of downed trees and power outages across the region. The area is already under a flood watch, with heavy rains expected to fall later in the evening.

The National Weather Service in Albany issued a high wind warning for a large swath of eastern New York tonight and tomorrow, including Ulster, Greene and Schoharie Counties. The alert warns that winds gusting up to 65 miles per hour are expected to develop after 10pm tonight:

Southerly Winds Becoming West Thursday Morning At 20 To 35 Mph With Gusts To 65 Mph...With The Strongest Wind Gusts Expected Across Higher Elevations...And Across Portions Of The Western Mohawk Valley.

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Natural Contents

Above: Bitteto (left) and Gaebel representing Natural Contents at a holiday bazaar at Villa Roma. Photo from Natural Contents' Facebook page.

When Danielle Gaebel and Jennifer Bitetto first took the leap into eating healthy in the wake of a painful gall bladder scare, they made forays to Whole Foods in Paramus – a four hour expedition from their Sullivan County home – and set out to scale a steep learning curve. The couple who used to “stop at McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Taco Bell” all in one day were determined to make their changes stick, but there had to be a better (and closer-to-home) way.

With the founding of their online pantry, Natural Contents.com, they began to see what that better way was. And with the opening of the region’s first Community Supported Kitchen, they’ve positioned themselves at the cutting edge of farm to table.

The Watershed Post spoke to Gaebel about their culinary voyage of discovery and the business that’s growing around it.

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Flood watch issued across the Catskills region

Heavy rain and warmer temperatures are pushing into the southern Catskills, melting snow on the ground and bringing an increased risk of flash flooding.

An alert issued Tuesday afternoon by the National Weather Service in Binghamton urges Delaware, Sullivan and Otsego County residents to watch out for flooding along rivers and creeks on Wednesday and Thursday:

A Strong Storm System Is Developing Over The Center Of The Country And Will Push Mild Air And Rain Into The Region On Wednesday. Some Of The Rain Will Be Heavy Wednesday Evening. This Rain...In Combination With Melting Snow ...Could Cause Flooding Of Small Streams And Minor Flooding Of The Rivers In The Region. ...Flood Watch In Effect From Wednesday Evening Through Thursday Morning.

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The doctor is in

Dr. Barry and the Jazz Cats get into the groove on a recent Sunday at the Dancing Cat Saloon, a Bethel music venue that doubles as an up-and-coming distillery. Photo taken by John of Catskills Photography, and shared in the Watershed Post's Flickr group pool.

"Dr. Barry" -- at center, on guitar -- earned his stage moniker in medical school. Barry Scheinfeld runs Catskill Rehabilitation and Sports Medicine in Harris, a little hamlet in the Sullivan County town of Thompson. But on Sunday afternoons, you can find him at the Dancing Cat, where the Jazz Cats are a regular fixture at brunch with chef Jay Weinstein.

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Snow falling, schools closing

A snowstorm that threatens to change over to ice and sleet later in the day is prompting school closings and other cancellations across the Catskills region.

Ulster County executive Mike Hein's office announced this morning that the State of the County address scheduled for this evening will be postponed because of the weather. Hein's address is now scheduled for Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 6:30 PM in SUNY Ulster’s College Hall.

Below are a few links for more info on local weather-related cancellations.

School closings in Sullivan and Ulster Counties, via the Times Herald-Record.

School and community organization closings in Ulster and Greene Counties, via the Daily Freeman.

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