UC Planning Board Makes Recommendation

For those following the continued farm stand debate in Shandaken the latest chapter comes from the Ulster County Planning Board. The planners reviewed the matter on May 7th and gave their non-binding recommendation. To read about it follow the link below to the full story in the Kingston Daily Freeman.

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general-news/20140519/shandaken-should-not-approve-farm-stand-reopening-as-currently-proposed-ulster-county-planning-board-says

Bamboo StreetSUP

The very creative, and always innovative, WCA member, James Wolf has just invented a bamboo skate board. He put this very fun video of it up on YouTube. He is riding it in the streets around his factory in Vietnam. Very cool. Go James!!

Tommy Healy Dives Again

WCA member Tommy Healy went on his annual diving trip to Bonaire and got these spectacular photos. Here is what Tommy had to say.

My annual Scuba diving/photography trip to Bonaire yielded some nice pictures I'd thought I'd share.  Below are just a few.

Camera wise I used a Olympus Pen EPM 1 in an Pt  006 underwater housing.  With an Olympus UFL 2 Strobe. I used a +10 diopter lens for the small photos.

#1 A Spotted Cony rests on the reef interested in me and what I'm doing as I am of it.

#2 is a Lion fish. While it is a beautiful fish, it is not native to the Caribbean. It's pacific fish that was first seen off the coast of Florida about 15 years ago. It is now found throughout the Caribbean and as far up as Maine.  With no known predator, and the fact that it reproduces and eats constantly, Marine biologists are watching this fish and the damage it may cause to the ecosystem.  

#3 Is of me taken by my dive buddy along the reef by a large orange sponge. 

#4 is a portrait of a French Angelfish. 

#5 is the tip of a long coral. the name that I'm not sure. As one can see, this coral is open and actively feeding waiting to catch small bits of food that may drift by. 

#6 A Ramora,  A friendly fish usually found tagging along on a shark or turtle. 

#7 and #8 This particular dive it decided to tag along with me for about an hour riding on the back of my tank.

#9 is a Blenny about the size of a pencil tip living in an old piece of coral.  He is waiting for a meal to pass by and he'll dart out and grab it.

#10 Small Popcorn Shrimp (very small pencil tip size) who make their home on an Anemone

#11 A Peacock Flounder

#12  a Yellow Trumpet Fish and Spanish Hog Fish. Trumpet Fish will sometimes ride close to another fish, as this one is doing. Maybe trying to protect itself blending in with the larger Hogfish.

#13  A very small Peterson Shrimp. (again pencil tip size)

Mother Earth

Here is a bit of poetry from WCA member and general nice guy, Dakin Morehouse. It is a bit late for Earth Day but the message is relevant anyway.

                   Do you love your

                  Mother -- Earth?

              Dakin Morehouse on Earth Day 4/22/2002            

Do you love your Mother -- Earth?

Well I do too and that makes it our responsibility
To keep her and all of her creatures healthy
And not to become her inconsiderate liability.

If you saw a growth taking over an organism
To the relentless detriment of that beautiful thing,
destroying its delicate balance of systems
And wantonly killing off benevolent sub beings,

You would probably label it 'cancer'.
And that would be you - and me!
Maybe not by malicious intent
But by the fact of our in-action you see.

Mankind has been referred to as a cancer,
Consuming our precious Mother Earth.
And WE must stop it from happening
With every ounce of our worth.

Our Earth Day concerns are many as
They usually are, but especially this year.
Our own officials are rolling back hard won
Protections, without even shedding a tear.

So speak up for our precious Mother!
For all of her systems and life forms.
Join the movements and use your e-mail,
Restore her before all planetary life - mourns.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Amy Speace At The ESRM

Amy Speace in Concert

for Flying Cat Music

Saturday, May 17

7:30 p.m. (sharp), door at 7:00

Empire State Railway Museum

70 Lower High Street, Phoenicia, NY 12464

Admission is $15 or $13 with RSVP

to flyingcatmusic@gmail.com

For information email as above

or call 845-688-9453

Link to artist's website:
http://www.amyspeace.com/

Flying Cat Music proudly presents Nashville singer-songwriter Amy Speace accompanied by violinist and vocalist Megan Palmer on Saturday, May 17, in a concert at the Empire State Railway Museum located at 70 Lower High Street in Phoenicia. The show begins promptly at 7:30 p.m. with the door opening at 7:00. Admission is $15 at the door or $13 with RSVP to flyingcatmusic@gmail.com or by calling 845-688-9453.

Clean River - Clean Water

I recently got this email from WCA member Max Nova. Check out his short film on Vimeo or YouTube. The links are below. Great job, Max!! Here is his message.

I want to share a project very close to my heart, and close to home for us all – upstate & in the city: a short film I directed for Riverkeeper, the non-profit stewards & protectors of the Hudson River for nearly 50 years.

They recently held their annual fundraising gala, the 2014 Fisherman's Ball, for which this film was commissioned.  This year's honorees were Chelsea Clinton and SolarCity, and I'm proud to say the event was a big success.

My production team & I spent four days scouting and shooting the beautiful streams, rivers, and waterways in and around the Woodland & Hudson Valleys, which I'm sure many of our friends and neighbors will immediately recognize in the film.  It's not too often I have the opportunity to work on non-commercial projects such as this, let alone one as substantive and locally resonant as Riverkeeper.  Please feel free to share the links below and spread the word around the watershed!

- Max Nova

SHELLAC VIMEO

RIVERKEEPER YOUTUBE

Burning Permits

Town Clerk, Joyce Grant posted this message on Facebook regarding burning permits in the Town of Shandaken.

May 15th Burning Permits Available @ Town Clerks Office. 9-4 (We do not close for Lunch). Remember Burning Permits are for burning small piles of brush for yard clean up. Garbage & Leaf Burning is no longer allowed in NYS. 

For more information you can go to: http://www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/58519.html

Farm Stand Public Hearing Thursday

For those of you following the ongoing issues with the Higley Farm Stand on Rt 28, there will be a public hearing held by the zoning board of appeals this Thursday. At that hearing Al Higley will present his plan and the public can make comments. The meeting will be held at the Shandaken Town Hall in Allaben and will begin at 6:30pm. The link below is to the article in the Kingston Daily Freeman on the matter.

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/general-news/20140506/shandaken-farm-stand-battle-subject-of-thursday-hearing

Rabies & Distemper Clinic

There will be a low cost rabies and distemper clinic for cats and dogs in the Shandaken Town Hall on Saturday May 17th from 10am - Noon. Rabies shots are $10.00 and distemper shots are $15.00. This is a great way to keep your pets up to date on their vaccinations without spending huge amounts of money. DOGS MUST BE KEPT ON LEADS AND CATS IN CRATES. For more information call Town Clerk Joyce Grant at 688-5004.

Margrethe Gray Cone Passes

It is with much personal sadness that I relay the news that longtime Roxmor resident Margrethe Gray Cone has passed. She died at home, peacefully in her sleep, on April 24th. 

Over the years I have shared many parties and meetings with Margrethe. It was always great to see her. Every time we met she greeted me with those beautiful eyes and a sparkling smile. I always felt that she was really glad to see me even if we just happened to meet in the aisles of the Boiceville Supermarket. 

She was quick witted and cheerful and best of all, kind. When I was invited to parties in her home she went out of her way to make me feel comfortable and included. In a world that prizes material things, the importance of being good to one another is often overlooked. But in remembering Margrethe I would like to say how important kindness is and celebrate her for bringing so much of it into the world. She will be missed. 

My condolences to her life companion Pete Forbis, her daughters Karen and Joyce, their husbands and her grandchildren. May she rest in peace.