Library Building Dedication A Huge Success

Last Saturday the Phoenicia Library dedicated their brand new building to the memory of Marilyn Dershowitz. The Dershowitz family donated and tirelessly fundraised money for the library rebuild to honor Marilyn's memory.

For those of you who are new to the community, Marilyn was a long-time Woodland Valley resident who was tragically killed in a bicycle accident in NYC three years ago. She was an avid reader and a huge supporter of the Phoenicia Library. Naming the building after her is a great way to memorialize her.

Many people spoke at the dedication including library director Liz Potter, Board President Bernie Hanzel, Nat Dershowitz and NY State Assemblymen Kevin Cahill. The library was overflowing with people from the community. The ribbon was cut by Marilyn's grandchildren Zara and Mars.

Scrumptious snacks were provided by Amy Jackson and Woodland Valley's own Rebecca Ffrench and Marcey Brownstein.  I probably should have taken a photo of the snack tables to show you all how beautiful they looked but by the time I got to them they were so packed with people I couldn't get enough room. Oh well, take my word for it, the food was awesome!

All in all it was a wonderful day! With the tireless efforts of many in the community the Phoenicia library is bigger and better than ever!

Limited Supply of Driftwood Free to Artists

This coming Friday, January 23rd, from 10am to 2pm, the DEP will be giving a limited supply of driftwood from the Ashokan reservoir out free to artists. The wood is available on a first come/first serve basis.

The DEP removes the driftwood from the reservoir on a regular basis to keep the water clean. But this is the first time that I know of that they are making it available to folks. Many artists have contacted them in the past (including a good friend of mine) about getting the wood but have been refused. Bravo to the DEP for opening themselves up to this possiblity and finding a way to recycle this material into art! If you are interested, here is a link to the DEP site for more information.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/press_releases/15-003pr.shtml#.VLvVnUsU5cQ

Phoenicia Library Official Grand Opening

The Phoenicia Library grand opening party and building dedication will be this Saturday from 11am - 3pm. The fun starts with refreshments at 11am and the dedication ceremony will be at noon. The fun then continues with events until 3pm (see schedule from the library below). It should be a great day. See you all there!

GRAND OPENING PARTY

SATURDAY JANUARY 17^th 11 am – 3 PM

Dedication of the Marilyn Dershowitz Memorial Building at NOON

Schedule of Events

• Refreshments starting at 11 AM
• Dedication at Noon
• Uncle Rock in Kids Room at 1 PM
• History of the Library Talk Upstairs at 1 PM
• Ukulele Music at 2 PM
• Robert Burke Warren Music at 2:30 PM

We want to thank the community, our 

volunteers and our staff for being incredibly 

supportive through the last 3 years!

Slip Sliding Away

We had some snow on Monday morning followed by a day of heavy rain. The ground is mostly frozen and not absorbing water so the rain didn't have many places to go. When the temps dipped into the single digits overnight last night (6 degrees at my house) everything froze SOLID. Driveways, walkways and even the streets of Phoenicia have many, many very slippery patches. The weather is forecasted to stay below freezing until Sunday so those of you who are coming for the weekend be extra careful about where you walk. It is a cold, slippery world out there!!

More Great Press For Phoenicia

The last few weeks have been big ones for Phoenicia in the press. First, Time magazine puts the Catskills (with a mention of Phoenicia) on it's list of The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2015. http://time.com/3640728/best-places-travel-2015/
Then the NYTimes makes the Catskills, and Phoenicia specifically (calling it Williamsburg north……I am LOL and groaning at the same time on that one), #39 on it's list of the 52 places to go in 2015.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/01/11/travel/52-places-to-go-in-2015.html?ref=travel
Looks like our hamlet will be hopping with hipsters (and other visitors from far and wide) for the foreseeable future!

First Deep Freeze, Then Snow

Winter has come on full force this week. On Wednesday night into the early hours of Thursday the mercury dipped to a whopping -6. That is without any will chill factors. Yipes! The temperatures have risen a bit but we have had about 3-4 inches of new snow fall.

The highway department has been doing a great job of keeping all the roads sanded and salted. So everything is passable.

But beware when you are walking. As I reported to you previously, the snow we had last week was followed by heavy rain. That rain took most, but not all of the snow away. The remaining small patches froze solidly and have created little invisible bits of treachery under the snow. You don't see the icy spots until you hit them. I have taken a couple of spills myself in the past few days so BEWARE when you are walking!

Something To Listen To On These Cold Nights

Here is something I have been meaning to post for a while. And since we are having sub-zero nights here in the valley it would be the perfect time to stay indoors and warm your soul with some great music.

In Phoenicia a couple of months ago I met a new Woodland Valley resident, Marlan Barry. He is a musician and does classical and acoustic music recording and production. He gave me his card and I checked out his website. One of the really cool things he has been working on is recording world class musicians playing on some of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's rare musical instrument collection. There are links to these sessions on his blog (see link below). It is not the first post but you can scroll down a bit and you will see the different links to take you to the performances. They are all divine. Enjoy!

http://marlanbarryaudio.com/blog/

Another Storm Past

The storm that came through yesterday and today is finished (mostly - it is raining a tiny bit here now). It started out as snow in the afternoon yesterday and then sometime last evening changed to sleet, then rain. Only about 3 inches fell before the changeover so it wasn't that deep. But the rain overnight made it very heavy and hard to shovel today. But shovel and plow it I did.

The temperatures rose into the high 40's today at the end of the valley and so a lot of it melted. If the predictions were for it to stay warm I think we all could have just left it where it was to melt. But the temps are supposed to drop significantly. And it is the kind of mess that if you don't clean and it ices over you can have a treacherous situation.

The temps are supposed to go into the subzero range by Wednesday night so I hope you are all ready. Winter is really digging in for the long haul. Wherever you are I hope you stay dry and warm.

Gorgeous New Library Renovation

I went to the library opening yesterday and as it happened I was the first patron through the door. I didn't mean to be. But a few days ago they called and said something that I had ordered about a month ago online finally came into Phoenicia. They also said they would be open on Friday for me to pick it up. I had to go to Kingston that day so I needed to get there, get it and get on with my day. So I was there shortly after they opened the doors. A big smiling group of people was on hand to greet me, so it was very fun.

I highly recommend that everyone visit the new building. It is gorgeous and I think it will be an important hub of activity for the entire community.

Since I was on my way somewhere else I didn't have too much time to take photos but here are some that I took to give you all a sneak peek until you can get there yourself.

Kudos to everyone who worked so hard to make this renovation a reality. You did a really great job!!!

New Phoenicia Library Opens Today

The Phoenicia Library opens again today, Jan 2, 2015, in it's renovated location at 48 Main Street! The hours are 1pm - 6pm. All of the library services will be resumed today.

The Grand Opening party and dedication of the Marilyn Dershowitz building will be on Saturday January 17th from 11am - 3pm. There will be light refreshments and music that day.

But whenever you can get there, go check out the new and improved Phoenicia Library building. It is a great asset to our community! See you all at the library!