| Watershed Post

Fresh: Family Traditions in Stone Ridge blends art and life

Above: Family Traditions owner Peri Rainbow-Sloan behind the counter. Photo by Anne Pyburn Craig.

A new business in Stone Ridge is a unique blend of gift shop, art gallery, and space for dispute resolution and educational services. All are invited to stop in between noon and 7pm this Saturday or Sunday, March 10 and 11, to meet the artists, munch complimentary snacks and wine, and get a peek at the newest denizen of Emmanuel's Plaza on Route 209.

Entering Family Traditions, it's hard to believe you're in the same space that used to house the well-loved but inarguably cramped video store. The feel is fresh and spacious. Beyond the array of gift-shop items, a comfy-looking lounge beckons. The walls pop with art.

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This week around the blogshed

Above: Ostriches hanging out in the snow. Clearly this photo was taken a few weeks ago, and not yesterday. Photo from Flickr user Catskills Photography, in the Watershed Post Flickr pool.

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Hein to NYC: Get offa my Facebook page

Mike Hein's Facebook page: Now a DEP-free zone.

The latest skirmish in Ulster County executive Mike Hein's ongoing war with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection is being fought on the battlefield of social media.

Capital Tonight reports that Hein's official Facebook page has blocked the DEP's NYC Water from commenting, after the DEP left a link to a recent Times Herald-Record story on Hein's page. Capital Tonight reporter Nick Reisman got outraged yawps from both sides:

“It is pretty shocking that the day after the County Executive demanded transparency that he would censor information on his own public Facebook page,” said DEP spokesman Farrell Sklerov. “Since when is transparency a one way street?”

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NYC Department of Environmental Protection

The Green Shirts are coming...to help Schoharie County rebuild

Above: A video about Schoharie County after the devastating Irene and Lee floods, filmed by Schoharie Recovery. Schoharie Recovery is one of the partners in a regional recovery effort called SALT (Schoharie Area Long Term).

Starting Monday, March 12, green-shirted volunteers will be going door to door in Schoharie County and the surrounding region to document the needs of local residents affected by the Irene and Lee floods. It's the first step in a longer process of getting help and advice to those who need it.

The volunteers are a group from the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), which is working with regional flood-recovery organization Schoharie Area Long Term (SALT) on flood recovery efforts in the area.

Volunteers will also be staffing walk-in sites where area residents can drop in.

The schedule for the walk-in sites:

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Marriage politics get personal at Shandaken town meeting

Shandaken's Republican town supervisor, Rob Stanley, just wants to marry his secretary's daughter -- to her fiancee, that is.

This week, the Shandaken town board passed a resolution making Stanley a marriage officer, so he can preside over the upcoming wedding of Marie O'Donnell and Jennifer Sutherland.

Two of Stanley's fellow town board members supported the resolution. But fellow Republican Vincent Bernstein abstained from voting, citing "religious reasons."

The resolution was a brief item in the regular business at the monthly town board meeting, held Monday, March 5. For a full account of the meeting, see our report from correspondent Rusty Mae Moore.

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Levon Helm films a love letter to Ulster County

Levon Helm may be a national treasure, but here in the Catskills, we think of him as our own. The four-time Grammy-winning musician has called Woodstock home since the 1960s, and his famous "Midnight Ramble" sessions draw musicians and rock acolytes to the region from far and wide.

So when he says he loves Ulster County -- even for a promotional tourism video -- we believe him. In the latest video from Ulster County Tourism, Helm talks about why he loves these mountains.

"The people that you meet, when you come to Ulster County -- you can't beat 'em," Helm says, in a gravelly drawl. "And we've got some of the best swimming holes, natural swimming holes that were cut back into the side of the mountain, and the most beautiful little waterfalls right there, coming right down."

"There's something about Woodstock and about the Catskill Mountains right here. It's just -- it's such a good place for music to happen."

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House fire in Boiceville

Above: Photo from the scene of a fire at 14 Brunel Drive in Boiceville, taken by Ralph VanKleeck Jr. of the Olive Fire Department. Reproduced with permission.

A fire that started in a garage caused major damage to a home on Brunel Drive in Boiceville on Wednesday, March 7. The Daily Freeman reports that no one was injured.

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Olive Fire Department

Phoenicia landmark to close on March 19

Al's Seafood, a Phoenicia institution in business since 1940, will close its doors permanently after dinner service on March 19. The Daily Freeman reports:

“At close of business on March 19th, I turn off the lights at Al’s for the last time,” [Paul Pettinato, son of restaurant founder Al Pettinato] said.

Pettinato, 61, said he will use his retirement to relax and spend more time with his family.

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Town of Catskill to consider thawing salaries

Salaries of Town of Catskill employees frozen over three years ago may soon be thawed, the Daily Mail reports today.

The town's human resources consulting form made the recommendations, citing wage and salary studies it conducted a few years ago.

Glenville-based Public Sector Human Resource Consultants President Ronnie Travers [...] said the step-plan salary position was accordingly implemented and that all were satisfied with it, adding, “It worked pretty good.”

Travers said the system was constructed so that it did not prevent the town from making decisions about personnel when they came on board or after, but basically implemented a system of uniformity and clarity for addressing pay increases and job reviews.

Travers addressed the issue with current board members, citing the potential for salary inequity and wage conflict in the future.

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Cannonsville, revisited

Above: An aerial view of the Cannonsville Reservoir. Not pictured: Cannonsville itself. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, used under a Creative Commons license.

Cannonsville, described by Wikipedia as "defunct," was a town that, like many others in the southern Catskills, now sits at the bottom of a massive reservoir that was named for it, part of the Delaware System. Unlike many of the other towns displaced to create the New York City watershed, Cannonsville was not relocated. Founded in the late 18th century, Cannonsville was flooded in 1964. There's a grassroots memorial website to the town that once was and, tonight, you can revisit its history on film in "Indian Summer: The Cannonsville Story" at the Cannon Free Library in Delhi. Admission is free. For more details on the screening, visit the listing in our calendar. -- Andrea Girolamo

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