Weather for Weekenders - 02/27/09

The weather has been mild (temps in the 40's) and rainy in the valley all day today. The rain is melting a lot of the snow that has been lying around from past storms. Yesterday when the sun came out it was beautiful. I almost believed that spring was around the corner. Woodland Valley Road is clear at this point. The forecast for the next few days is for the temperatures to drop back down into the 20's and 30's for the highs during the day and into the teens at night. I hope that more of the snow melts before that happens so that we don't have to deal with too much ice. We'll see.

Dakin's Trip to California

WCA member Dakin Morehouse went to California recently to visit his grandkids. I was jealous of him getting some sun and fun while we here in Woodland Valley suffered through the endless winter, but apparently I didn't have any reason to be envious of the weather. He sent me these photos and graciously agreed to let me put them on the blog. Here is what he had to say about his trip:

"This is the closest I got to surfing and thong bikinis during my trip to California to see my progeny. Snowed the whole time. But playing chess, slot cars, dulcimer, piano and recorders with my GrandKids made it well worth the trip!"











On the LadderStair is Kiyoshi (my grandson), me (Dakin), Ally (my granddaughter) and underneath is daughter, Sharon with husband, Dave. Erik (my son) made them the 'treehouse' sleeping quarters.


















In this photo is Kiyoshi, me, and Alyssa Fumika. Ally and I are playing our recorders.











Thanks for letting me post these Dakin. It looks like you had a great time!!

Melinda Stickney-Gibson - Kouros Gallery

Talented Artist and WCA member Melinda Stickney Gibson will be having a show at the Kouros Gallery in New York City. Here are the details. If you will be in the city during that time check out her new work!

Melinda Stickney Gibson
Environments
March 5 - April 4, 2009
Reception for the Artist:
Thursday March 5th, 6-8 pm

Kouros Gallery
23 East 73rd Street
NY, NY 10021
tel 212-288-5888 fax 212-794-9397
camillos@kourosgallery.com
www.kourosgallery.com

Work Shown Above: Do True, 2008, oil on paper, 26 x 22 inches

Lost Hikers

We had some excitement here at the end of the valley on Saturday night. At 6:00 pm, as I was getting ready to get into the shower before going out for the evening, I heard a knock on my door. I opened it to find a young woman and man (in their early 20's) on my porch (one of my friends says that if I opened the door to two strangers on a dark Saturday night I have obviously not seen enough horror movies). It turned out that they, and their 3 other friends down on the road, were part of a University of Pennsylvania hiking club. They set out to do the Slide-Wittenberg-Cornell loop. Unfortunately, the leader of the group was under the impression that the hike was only 8 miles long when in reality it is almost twice that distance. The entire group was 14 people but these 5 had left later that the other nine and gone in the opposite direction. They had come up and over Giant Ledge and then gotten most of the way up Wittenberg Mountain when they realized that they wouldn't have enough time to get over both Cornell and Slide and get back down into the Slide parking lot before dark. So they came off the trail and knocked on my door. I gave them a ride back to the Slide parking lot and dropped them off. Since they were very confident that their fellow hikers, who had left much earlier that they had, would be back before them, I didn't wait to find out if that was true. I returned to my house, made some phone calls and then tried again to get ready to go out. Again, I heard a knock on my door. Part of the group had returned. It seemed that of the nine they were expecting to meet back at camp only 3 had gotten back. Those 3 had turned around on the top of Slide also realizing they weren't going to make it all the way around in the time they had allowed. But at this point, they didn't know where their other 6 friends were and it was now 9:00 pm. We called the Shandaken police who instructed us to call 911 which we did. The Town police, the State police, and the Shandken ambulance squad all arrived at the Woodland Valley campground parking lot in short order. Another police unit was sent to the Slide parking lot side. The officers spent a little over an hour beginning to organize a search. Happily, at about 10:15, the last 6 hikers emerged from the woods safe and unharmed. So all's well that ends well. I asked the hikers to send me a couple of photos so that I could tell the story on the blog and they graciously agreed. I am very happy that everyone came out of this experience in good shape and that this story has a happy ending!






These are the 2 hikers that originally knocked on my door.

More Snow

We got an additional 3 to 4 inches of snow today in the valley. It is hard to tell exactly how much fell because there is still so much snow around from last week. It seems that no matter how hard I wish for spring winter is far from finished with us.

Bearsville Traveling JAMboree

This Saturday WCA junior member Miriam Rose will be performing with Uncle Rock at the Bearsville Traveling JAMboree. Here are the details.

Saturday, February 21, 2009
Bearsville Theater
Doors open at 11am - Show starts at noon
Tickets $10 Adults/ $8 Kids

Multi-generational live entertainment show and podcast
hosted by the Hudson Valley’s own Uncle Rock

Featuring performances by Uncle Rock & the Playthings
Story Laurie and Ira MacIntosh, The Woodstock Library Reader’s Theater and musicians from local elementary schools, including Joey Dragon on cello, Scotty Booth on trumpet, and our own Miriam Rose Silver-Altman on violin and reciting her own poetry.

Admission discounts for canned goods to be donated to Family Of Woodstock’s food bank

Can parents, grandparents, tots, and grade-schoolers have a great time in one room, at the same time, support neighborhood businesses at a green event, and help the local food bank all at once?

Uncle Rock says YES. For four years he’s been entertaining all ages, both locally and nationally. Now, with the inception of the Bearsville Traveling JAMboree, he expands on his cross-generational approach with an old-school variety show designed to engage families as a whole, while also giving them a chance to interface with their community. Local businesses Lucky Chocolates and Kiss My Face Cosmetics will be on hand, and a bin will be provided for patrons to deposit canned goods for Family Of Woodstock – a canned good is worth $1 off admission.

On the bill for the debut of the Bearsville Traveling JAMboree will be host Uncle Rock and his band the Playthings, with guests Story Laurie & Ira MacIntosh telling tales and singing, the Woodstock Library Reader’s Theater reading selections from Alice In Wonderland a la old-time radio theater, and a selection of outstanding local elementary school musicians playing short
solo pieces.

What better, more economical way than the Bearsville Traveling JAMboree for families to beat the mid-winter blues and shake cabin fever? Uncle Rock invites one and all, young and old, to have a shared cultural experience, help those in need, and celebrate the richness of our communities. Come on out to Bearsville and jam with us.

Weather for Weekenders - 02/20/09

As I mentioned in my last post, we got about 6 inches of snow on Wednesday. We had more flurries on Thursday but we didn't get more than an additional inch. Today the weather has been colder than forecasted for the valley. They were predicting high temps around 30〫but at my house it never got above 20. Most of the day it has been in the teens. Brrrrrrr..........at least the roads are clear. They are calling for more snow on Sunday, but we'll see. There is still some ice around under the snow so watch your step going in and out of your house.

News from the ZBA Meeting Tonight

Despite the six inches of new snow that fell today, the ZBA meeting went on as planned. The water harvesting zoning code interpretation was the only thing on the agenda. After a lengthy discussion, a motion was made that water harvesting for non-potable use is NOT a similar use to "water bottling and related uses" (which the town code allows). Here is exactly how the votes were cast.

Keith Johnson - No
Rolf Reiss - Yes
Tom Hickey - Yes
Joe Michaels - Yes
Gary Guglielmetti - No

So, in the end, the board voted 3 to 2 that water harvesting for non-potable uses is NOT similar to "water bottling and related uses" and is thus not allowed under the Shandaken Zoning Code. To us in Woodland Valley that means that the Poncic/Goodwater proposal to harvest non-potable water is NOT permitted in Shandaken.

I want to thank everyone who made their voices heard at the public hearing last month either in person or by mail. I also want to thank the Zoning board of Appeals for listening to those voices.

ZBA Meeting This Wednesday 2/18/09

I would like to remind everyone that there is a Zoning Board of Appeals meeting this Wednesday night at 7:30 pm in the Shandaken Town Hall. Although the time has come and gone for public input, the ZBA is expected to rule on the issue of whether water harvesting for non-potable purposes is a similar use to water bottling. Be there if you are able. For those of you who can't make the meeting, I will keep you informed of the board's decision.

Boreegard's Guacamole

I got this from Mike O'Neil a few weeks back and though you might enjoy it.

Boreegard Considers Guacamole and Its International Ramifications

"Mi Esposa once upon a time did not care for guacamole. But after a vacation in Mexico, en Jalisco—Puerto Vallarta—where at table we were served a constant supply of it morning, noon and night—she admitted to actually looking forward to it.

Its main ingredient, of course, is avocado. Craig Claiborne had this to say about that:

The history of the avocado in the New World is traced to Hernando Cortes, who, in 1519, found the avocado flourishing in or around what is now Mexico City. The name, which dates from that time, derives from a Nahuatl (a group of Mexican and Central American tribes that include the Aztecs) word ahuacatl. The Spanish transliterated that into aguacate, which does not mean, as many suppose, “lawyer”. Later on, when the French borrowed the name of the fruit, they did name it avocet which is French for lawyer.

Ah, but screw all that history stuff. Here’s a recipe for guacamole that I mixed together on Super Bowl Sunday 43, that is far superior to the bland store-bought dip.

Group One
1 tsp. lime juice
1 tsp. lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp. finely chopped tomato
2 tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 tbsp. diced mild green chilis (Chi-Chi’s)
2 cloves garlic—minced and finely chopped
A dusting of ground cumin

Group Two
2 or 3 ripe avocados.

TO DO

Put group one in a bowl.
Place group two in the same bowl and mash and mix the hell out of it.

Cover and put in the refrigerator for a while to let it settle and blend properly. Here’s a tip I learned years ago from Bob and Margie Lyon, our Tex/Mex amigos who currently live in El Paso. Place the pits from said avocados on top of this goop before you pop it into the frig. This keeps it from discoloring into a loathsome gray.

Then eat—scooped onto tortilla chips, corn chips, Fritos, potato chips, crackers, in the crook of your index finger, whatever!

By the by, I can think of NO international ramifications inherent in guacamole. Perhaps you can."

Boreegard Feb. 1, 2009

Ashokan Basin Stream Management Event

Streamside Native Plant Workshop

Guest Speakers:
Jay Archer, President John Jay Landscaping
Francis Groeters, Owner Catskill Native Nursery

Learn to Create Native Streamside Landscapes!

Sunday
February 15, 2009
1:00pm - 3:30pm
FREE!

At our New Office Location!
6375 Route 28 in Shandaken
Formerly Black Bear Hollow Café across from
Margo’s Hungarian Restaurant

Space limited
Please RSVP to Jenny Burkins (845) 340-3990
or by email jlb64@cornell.edu

For More Information Contact:
Michael Courtney, Extension Educator
email: mcc55@cornell.edu
Kingston office: 10 Westbrook Lane, Kingston, NY 12401
t: 845-340-3990 f: 845-340-3993

Working together to benefit the Esopus Creek environment, economy & community through coordinated stewardship of streamside resources

Weather for Weekenders - 02/13/09

The weather this week was much warmer than is has been in a while. Most of the time the highs were in the 30's and 40's with one day reaching the 50 degree mark. Yesterday we got rain instead of snow (or the dreaded wintry mix) for the first time in a long time. It melted the big piles of snow down considerably although there is still quite a bit left. The rain also helped to melt some of the ice that has plagued us for a couple of weeks now. Unfortunately though, that is not completely gone either. But the days are getting longer and I choose to believe that spring is just around the corner!

Memories of Camp Woodland

Here is a post sent to us by Bill Horne one of our newest WCA members. Bill spent summers at Camp Woodland from 1950 to 1960. Thanks for sharing your memories with us Bill!

Folk Festival of the Catskills at the Simpson Memorial Ski Slope

"The photo shows Norman Studer, director of Camp Woodland, introducing Nellie Bly Ballard at the 1960 Folk Festival of the Catskills held at the base of the Simpson Memorial Ski Slope. The ski slope is located at the beginning of the Woodland Valley Road. The Folk Festival, held each August, featured the creative works of many Catskill residents. The audience sat on benches around a stage and on the ascending ski slope which is now somewhat overgrown. In the background is a row of poplars that lined the boundary of the ski slope and the Woodland Valley Road.

Using the camp as a base, campers went on frequent trips into the Catskill mountain communities to collect folk songs, stories and history. Many of these Catskill residents were born between 1870 and 1900 and had grown to adulthood during the transition from the age of homespun to industrialization. They were the last generation brought up to handle a flail, shape a wooden spoon, skim milk by hand from a flat pan. They had learned a way of life from parents who had been adults during the Civil War and from grandparents who had been alive in the 1840s when the age of homespun had reached its apogee in small-town New York.

By the time campers came to know them, their older pattern of living had largely been displaced and pushed into a dimly remembered past. Most lived on marginal farms or in little villages in narrow upland valleys or on mountain slopes. Often they were the third generation on their land. Their own children and grandchildren had hurried off to the cities to find work. And when these folks could no longer till the land by themselves, they watched it grow over with uncut grasses, with red sumac, and eventually with trees.

But their deep-lying roots in their culture gave these people an unmistakable dignity and serenity, even in the face of aging, sickness, and for some, long-inured poverty and despite their recognition that life had already passed them by and progress had rendered obsolete what they were familiar with. They retained a natural self-esteem of those whose American identity developed in an era when men and woman relied on themselves for many of the necessaries of daily life; and who, in the age of homespun, found opportunities to exercise their creative potential.

Campers appreciated the importance of these songs and stories to their Catskill neighbors. In the process of collecting them, these neighbors responded warmly to the eagerness and respect of the campers who came to learn from them. They sang and told stories cheerfully and graciously for their new found friends and appreciated the tribute of having their songs honored and enjoyed, and learned and sung back to them by a new generation."

- Submitted by Bill Horne, former resident of the Woodland Valley at Camp Woodland.

Catskill Woodland Camp Summer 2009

Here is a message from WCA member Cara Cruickshank about upcoming summer programs.

Catskill Woodland Camp 2009
Connecting children with Nature, Art, Culture and Community

July 6-August 14
Sign up for 1 to 6 weekly sessions

Woodland Wildcats: Ages 5-12
Babes in Woodland: Ages 2-4
Teen Leaders: Ages 12-15

Early registration discounts! For more information about camp and how to register, contact us at: storydanz@yahoo.com
(845) 688-2068

Catskill Woodland Camp is a summer day camp in Phoenicia, N.Y. for ages 2-15 celebrating folk-heritage, culture, arts, and outdoor education in the Catskill Mountain region. It seeks to provide education, enrichment and leadership opportunities for local youth which focus on tolerance, respect, environmental stewardship, self-empowerment, and team-building.

A New Camp with History

Catskill Woodland Camp was founded in Phoenicia, NY in 2008 by Woodland Valley resident, Cara Cruickshank. Cara's vision for CWC was inspired by tales, stories, and songs of a former local summer camp which specialized in progressive education and folklore: Camp Woodland (1940-1961). With a staff of counselors including the likes of Pete Seeger, alumni including the likes of renowned folk musicians Eric Weissberg and Happy Traum, Camp Woodland offered children the opportunity to uncover and preserve disappearing Catskill traditions through experiential learning.
CWC aims to carry on this mission, in honor of the famous Camp Woodland and to build bridges between the new Catskill generations with the old through mentorship and interactive learning.

For more news about us, click here: Camp Woodland - Ulster Publishing

At Catskill Woodland Camp, we strive to create unique experiences for campers to explore the natural world, the artistic realms, and our expanding global community. We are serious about nurturing the talents and success of all our campers, providing a caring and qualified staff, as well as diverse and skillful professionals and entrepreneurial mentors in a variety of fields.

At CWC, our campers' physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health is our top priority. We offer a healthy balance between hands-on studies, creative expression, nature conservation, cultural diversity, and sustainable living. We gently guide campers to develop self-confidence, compassion, self-expression, health and well-being, inspired vision, joy, and respect for all life.

Weather for Weekenders - 02/06/09

The weather here in the valley has been cold for the past few days. The temperature was 0〫degrees last night when I went to bed. We got a couple of inches of new snow earlier in the week but no more has fallen since. There is a lot of snow around from the last several storms. The forecast for this weekend calls for temperatures in the 40's (which, sadly enough, sounds positively tropical to me at this point). That warm spell is supposed to stay through next week so I am hoping that a lot of the snow and ice that is around will melt. Otherwise, it is peaceful and beautiful here. That's all for now from the valley.

Still Life With Flowers

Here is another great piece of art from junior WCA member Miriam Rose. With all the snow we have lying around it is hard to remember that there is life under all that frosty white stuff. Hopefully, spring will come early and we will get to see the flowers again in person. Until then, thanks to Miriam for this great drawing.

Vehicular Irony

After telling the various town boards for years that the huge water tankers that they planned to allow in and out of Woodland Valley were unsafe, a much smaller Hudson Valley water delivery truck ran off the road last Friday and got stuck in a ditch. No one was hurt during this mishap, thank goodness. The driver was not on the scene when I arrived but someone else told me he was unharmed. What is it going to take to make them believe us when we say that Woodland Valley Road is not a place for huge water tankers!