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Tales of the Catskills co o

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Fall in the Valley 2018 EVENTS Table of contents IN THE CATSKILLS

Rail explorers October 6 October 6 & 7, 13 & 14 By Jodi La Marco ...... 6 Hudson Valley Dance Festival Oktoberfest at Hunter Mountain Oh, rats at the Historic Catskill Point www.huntermtn.com By Sue Pilla ...... 12 www.dradance.org October 13 & 14 Addiction October 6 World War II Living History Weekend By Susan Barnett ...... 14 Annual Harvest Festival, Cairo www.crystalbrook.com 518-610-3332 Wave your freak flag high October 20 By Harry Matthews ...... 20 October 6 & 7 Schlachtfest at Crystal Brook Windham’s 23rd Annual Autumn Aﬀair Mountain Brauhaus The sporting life www.windhamchamber.org www.crystalbrook.com By Will Dendis ...... 26

Grasshopper’s advice By Elisabeth Henry ...... 30

It’s the water, folks By Elisabeth Henry ...... 34 For a complete listing of all events in The Great Northern Catskills visit Toxic mold www.GreatCatskillEvents.com By Jennifer Brizzi ...... 38 IT’S A WORLD AWAY… AND CLOSER THAN YOU THINK Dr. Gregg By Susan Barnett ...... 44 Nestled in the scenic We redo the kitchen Catskill Mountains, our By Dan Barton ...... 46 vineyard overlooks Windham Mountain Four favorite New Paltz hikes and its surrounding By Erin Quinn ...... 51 year-round beauty. Coming to terms with Airbnb By Violet Snow...... 54 TASTING ROOM We source the best-rated wines that New York State has to offer from the Finger Lakes all the way down to the renowned North & South Forks of Long Island- all under one roof.

SEASONAL HOURS: Check website for current hours. Tillson Bird Watchers Country Store PRIVATE EVENTS 11 Mount View Estates Road, Featuring the natural beauty of a lush 852b Rte. 32 Tillson, NY and growing vineyard against the 845.332.9525 Windham, New York 12496 backdrop of the magniﬁcent Catskill Open: Tuesday - Saturday 10am - 6pm Tel: 518-734-0526 Mountains, The Vineyard is perfect for Beautify your garden with a hosting weddings, showers, holiday special birdhouse, bird bath www.thevineyardatwindham.com parties, birthdays, and other or hummingbird feeder. [email protected] WE HAVE A GREAT SELECTION! special occasions. Bird Seed • Feeders • Houses • Bafﬂes ______Bat Houses • Shepherds Hooks I Find us on Facebook & Instragram Puzzles • Games • Notecards @thevineyardatwindham 4 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. Welcome to our region

oes it upset the visitors who flock to our fair region for the beautiful autumn land- Dscape to see the obituaries if so many young people who die of drug overdoses? Will they be turn a blind eye to the poverty, the dismal job choices, the substandard housing and the inad- equate social services in our midst? Do they want to hear only the good news, look to the gorgeous scenery? Or are they ready for the whole story of the human condition as played out in our little backwater, warts and all? In this issue of Fall in the Valley, Susan Barnett, Elisabeth Henry and our other writers try to tell more of the whole ex- hilarating story. Our region is special remember reading as a kid the Ho- because we share a dedication to telling Imeric epics, the classical texts, Shake- Fall in the Valley as much of the whole story as we can. I’m speare’s plays, Turgenev’s short stories, October - November 2018 proud that we do that. I wouldn’t have it Milton’s prose, Eliot’s and Yeats’ poetry An Ulster Publishing publication any other way. and Joyce’s novels. I was most inspired Editorial

WRITERS: Susan Barnett, Dan Barton, Jennifer Brizzi, Will Dendis, Elisabeth Henry, Jodi La Marco, Harry Matthews, Sue Pilla, Erin Quinn, Violet Snow

EDITOR: Geddy Sveikauskas with Brian Hollander

LAYOUT: Joe Morgan

Ulster Publishing

PUBLISHER: Geddy Sveikauskas

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR: Genia Wickwire DISPLAY ADS: Lynn Coraza, Pam Courselle, Elizabeth Jackson, Ralph Longendyke, Sue Rogers, Linda Saccoman

PRODUCTION MANAGER: Joe Morgan

PRODUCTION: Diane Congello-Brandes, Josh Gilligan, Rick Holland

CLASSIFIED ADS: Amy Murphy, Tobi Watson

CIRCULATION: Dominic Labate Fall in the Valley is one of four Explore Hudson Valley supplements Ulster Publish- ing puts out each year. It is distributed in the company’s four weekly newspapers and separately at select locations, reaching an estimated readership of over 50,000. Its website is www.hudsonvalleyone.com. For more info on upcoming special sections, including how to place an ad, call 845-334-8200, fax 845-334-8202 or email: [email protected]. Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 5 by their desire to communicate about beacon of freedom in the wild that I had “Jackie’s son has had mental-health is- the lives around them as best they could. always seen it as and that I imagined sues all his life,” writes Susan Barnett. It was absurd to think I could do it any- it purported itself to be?” writes Harry “He is addicted to heroin. Every day, where as near as well as they did, but the Matthews. “To some degree, it was. But every night, she waits for the phone call important thing was to try anyway. I don’t it seemed also just as money-hungry and she dreads. The one where someone mind that people make fun of me for this mildly desperate as anywhere else.” calls to tell her he has died.” overweening ambition. Just because it’s “Given the amount of innovation and Perhaps the problem of our region is that silly and quixotic doesn’t bother me. creative breakthroughs that originated we don’t believe in ourselves. So much For the most part I have failed, but that’s here, it could just be that there is some- ability, so much beauty, so little money. not the important thing. Every once in thing in the water,” quite sensibly writes Geddy Sveikaukas a while I come across a piece or several Elisabeth Henry about the Catskills pieces that reach into the territory of what watershed. I am looking for. Here are three from this special section. nd yes, young people’s hopeless “Was Woodstock still that shining Aaddictions are part of our story. Art

Timothy Greenﬁeld-Sanders: The Trans List

THE Curated by Anastasia James DORSKY

Timothy Greenﬁeld-Sanders, Laverne Cox, 2015, inkjet print, courtesy the artist August 29 – December 9, 2018 Through December 9, 2018 Opening reception: Saturday, September 15, 5–7 p.m.

SAMUEL DORSKY MUSEUM OF ART STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT NEW PALTZ www.newpaltz.edu/museum Open Wed. – Sun. 11 am – 5 pm | 845/257-3844 6 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. Biking the rails Rail Explorers brings a new use to a familiar resource

By Jodi La Marco

ary Joy Lu, CEO of Rail Explorers, M found inspiration for her business in an unlikely place. “We were in New York City, and we were working in advertising. My husband and I had our own company on Fifth Avenue,” said Lu. To escape the pressure and long hours of her work life, Lu would watch Korean television dramas during her down time. “On one of the TV dramas that I watched, there was this couple, and they were riding this sort of bicycle thing on the railroad tracks. And I thought, What the heck is that?” Lu discovered that the contraption she had seen was a rail bike. “I thought, The image of the rail bike from Fire Towers of the Catskills by Martin Podskock is used ‘This is it. This is our next by courtesy of the Empire State Railway Museum, Lonnie Gale Collection. life.’” Lu had to overcome a number of obstacles. There were the lease of the track. And there were the bikes’ Korean designer and manufacturer expected hurdles, such as negotiating a unanticipated ones as well. Getting the rail on-board with her plan took some doing. “I didn’t speak Korean, and he didn’t FAMILY OWNED FOR 30+ YEARS speak English,” said Lu. The business deal GROUP DISCOUNT RATES was subject to cultural factors uncommon in the United States. “It’s not just about business, it’s about a lot of traditional eti- 100+ TV channels, free wireless internet, fitness area and guest laundry. quette. We knew we finally had a deal the night we went karaoke singing in South Free Continental Breakfast. Korea. It was 4 a.m. He had outdrunk Handicap accessible rooms available. us and outsung us and we finally said, ‘Okay, enough!’ We signed contracts the 1/4 mile to NYS Thruway. next day.” All local police, firefighters, and EMTs Two years after Lu’s first glimpse of a rail 15% off with valid ID. bike, Rail Explorers was up and running at Saranac Lake in New York’s Adirondack 7 Terwilliger Lane, New Paltz • 845-255-8865 • www.abviofnewpaltz.com Mountains. New outposts have since come Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 7

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ACTORS & WRITERS TEN-MINUTE PLAY FESTIVAL! staged readings of original short plays Saturday, October 20, at 8pm ASK ~ Arts Society of Kingston 97 Broadway, Kingston 12401~ www.askforarts.org

to Las Vegas, Delaware and Rhode Island. This past May, the company opened its Catskills location in Phoenicia. Railroads stitch together the geographic fabric of Ulster County, and rail bikes are not new to our area. Rail bikes were a way of getting around. Early versions of these pedal-powered machines once traversed the same tracks now used by Rail Explorers. Beginning in the 1920s, fire patrolmen would follow trains, scanning for fires started by sparks from smokestacks. The Catskills rail-bike tour runs along a four-mile stretch of the defunct Ulster and Delaware Railroad line. These tracks once carried locals and New York City tourists to points north and south, and freight in and out of the Catskills.

iking the rails is invigorating. BRiders are immediately struck by the wind-in-the-hair joy of cruising down the track, and the familiar clack, clack of wheels passing over rails. Pas- sengers chug along a beautiful stretch of the Esopus Creek, which is in view for most of the ride. In spring wildflowers huddle in swaths along the route, and in autumn the changing leaves create a wonderland of color. Now that autumn is reaching its peak, the track is surrounded by a wonderland of color. Riders move through a kaleidoscope of saturated hues. Deep gold, rich crimson, holdouts of summer green, and the rest of fall’s glorious tones sail by the viewer in rapid succession. Unlike the experience of riding a traditional bicycle, rail bikers can spend their time immersed in the Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 9

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sights around them rather than mind- ing the road. Each bike is equipped with brakes, but does not need to be steered. The track does the work for you. Think of it as Biking 2.0. There’s also the satisfaction of stopping traffic on Route 28 (if only for a moment). After crossing the highway — a task the staff takes great care in accomplishing — the ride comes to its midpoint. At a former track washout in Mount Tremper, passengers disembark while the bikes are turned around. Right next to the riverbank of the Esopus Creek, this is a great spot to take a breather or have a snack. Although the journey back to the ticket office is slightly uphill, bikes are equipped with an electric pedal-assist feature. “When you pedal, it kicks in just like an e-bike, but it only helps you so much. When you don’t pedal, it doesn’t operate. It just makes that journey back available to people of all ages and abilities,” explained Lu. “We’re very much committed to that.” Each bike is equipped with brakes, but does not need to be steered. The track does the work for you. Passengers can choose from either a four-seat or two-seat bike, which can be coupled for larger groups that want to stick together. Piloted by staff in the lead bike, all nine rail bikes travel in a loose caravan between lead and caboose bikes.

November 3rd from 7:00 to 11:00 The Château in Kingston Auctioneer, Bob Siracusano Auction Chair, Deborah Sinon Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 11

atskill Rail Explorers’ ticket of- “Each bike has its own headlight and part of the purpose, to make a sustainable Cfice is next door to the Empire State taillight,” explained deputy operations economic impact.” Railway Museum in Phoenicia. “On manager Michelle Davis. “Pedaling Visit www.railexplorers.net, or call 877- weekends when the museum is open, we through the woods in the pitch black is 833-8588. encourage all of our guests to visit,” said so much fun. The stars are viewable on Lu. “They’ve been able to modernize clear nights, which makes for a pretty some of their operations, including the spectacular ride.” The exhibits, through the impetus of having Once Rail Explorers closes for the Kiltmaker’s 200 to 300 visitors every weekend,” says season, its Catskill fleet will be shipped Apprentice Lu. “It’s been a really great partnership out west. “This will be our second winter Kilt Rentals for us as well because we’ve learned a lot season in Las Vegas,” says Lu. “We’re Custom Made Kilts about the historical significance of the working with a not-for-profit out there SCOTTISH ATTIRE & CELTIC railroad tracks.” called the Nevada Southern Railroad ACCESSORIES The Phoenicia branch of Rail Explorers Museum. We bring a new demographic to 54 Vineyard Ave Bob and was bringing tourism dollars to sur- the rails, which has been part of the most Doreen Highland, NY 12528 Browning Phone: 845-691-3888 rounding businesses as well, said Lu. important and fabulous consequence of Toll Free: 1-800-859-KILT • Cell: 845-392-2301 Since opening day on May 26 through Rail Explorers.” [email protected] • www.highlandkiltshop.com September 13, the Catskill division of “We’re bringing significant numbers Rail Explorers had hosted 7523 pas- to the community, and they’re people sengers. who are quality visitors. They’re spend- Rail Explorers will operate in Phoe- ing money, they’re staying in hotels,” Lu nicia until the end of October. The says. “Business owners from Woodstock attraction is open Thursdays through Brewing Company, Bite Me Bakery, Brio’s Mondays. On Fridays, Saturdays and Restaurant, and the Emerson have all seen Sundays, there are more departure unique visitations and money-spending times, including a 6:30 p.m. night tour. because of Rail Explorers. And that’s been

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By Sue Pilla The book piqued even more curios- ere we go again. ity and flights of I’ve come around fancy. I wanted to to believing they do some hands-on Hreally don’t mean observations just much mischief. It’s not really like my new hero, their fault. Rats were born that Robert Sullivan, way, it’s part of their drive to had done. survive. I can’t help but conjure What research he up images of those sweet little had done. How in- characters from Disney’s Rata- spiring! How kind touille or imagine Mickey Mouse of him to provide chomping on a piece of cheese. so many insights on Resilient and clever little crea- the situation. tures, rats spread disease, filth Just when my and destruction in their pursuit spirits were get- of happiness. I was horrified to ting a tad low. learn that we had been invaded The thought of once again, the third time in five running down to years, And in summer, no less, the local sporting Conversations around town and espe- And how about all those youngsters just goods store to purchase night-vision cially in the checkout line at the local Dol- waiting to be born? Wouldn’t a basement, glasses with the prospect of sitting in lar General store on Route 28 yielded some garage or outbuilding provide a nurturing our ancient fieldstone walled basement preliminary insights into the situation. environment? was almost irresistible. I would sit there “How come there are so many rodents quietly, watch and listen. Perhaps I’d get this year?” the chipper clerk asked me as pondered these ideas as I drove to actually see the little buggers climbing she rang up my order, which included I home. in and out between stones, scrambling bleach, vinegar, disposable glue traps As I’ve become more obsessed with the along the water pipes, or even setting a (which claim to trap rats, mice and rat situation, other thoughts pop in: What little table with a red checkered tablecloth insects), rat poison (both pet- and child- about rats in urban settings? How are and settling into a scrumptious meal. safe), bait station refills, and other items. municipalities handling pest control? Isn’t I would wear a face mask for added “We’re selling a lot of this stuff.” that a lovely idea, that we might actually protection. The heavy rains had brought The guy behind me volunteered that it be able to control our pests? minor flooding. Now mold was now grow- has been an unusually wet summer and I stumbled on a wonderful book when ing down there, too. (The dehumidifier now autumn. We’ve had record rainfalls, my son and I were dropping off a load of had broken a week earlier, allowing those saturated ground (to the point where reusable goods at our local Tibetan thrift miniscule spores to take hold. But wait, trees are falling on power lines), flooded shop the other day. As I compulsively that’s another story) lowlands and roads, seasonal streams starting reshelving some books to make I wondered how many rats we had. As turning year-round, and minor waterways myself useful, I came across Robert Sul- just about everyone knows, the rodent overrunning their banks. Apparently, he livan’s New York Times bestseller, Rats population and related species procre- said, there’s been a significant increase in — Observations on the History & Habitat ate prodigiously. First you have one, two home-dwelling rodents. of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants. and then 27. Rat procreation details are The little buggers just wanted to be Was this karma? How did that hap- particularly scary. snug and dry, I thought. They wanted to pen? I’d been thinking about writing escape the oppressive heat and humidity installment number three of this series sing what my sister fondly re- we’d been experiencing for what seemed of rat stories shortly after I discovered Ufers to as the “Google machine,” weeks on end. Why not invade any homes we’d been invaded again. Here was just I discovered just about everything I they could? It was better than spending the book I needed to spark my overactive ever wanted to know about rats. You the summer in the woods. imagination. can search and read for days on end if Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 13 you’re in the mood. Been there. Done just might be there for you. As for me, in through the storm whatever weather cold that. the words of Eminem, “I’m not afraid to or warm...Just lettin’ you know that you’re Sullivan’s book provides an in-depth his- take a stand...Everybody come and hold not alone...Holla if you feel that you’ve tory of the rat situation in New York City my hand...We’ll walk this road together been down the same road.” over time. He tells us that the brown rat, or Rattus Norvegicus, rode the boats from • RUNNING BOARDS • SPRAY-IN AND DROP-IN BED LINERS • WHEELS • TIRES • REMOTE CAR STARTERS the old world to the new back in the day. These are what are known as the common street, sewer, water, or wharf rats. Recently, PBS aired an informative program on pests, particularly rats, that mentioned a new and innovative approach to killing rats in urban settings. Someone had discovered what was touted as a hu- mane way of quickly exterminating rats from your grounds. Dry ice! How? Easy. 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By Susan Barnett

ackie Galietta remembers it like it was yesterday. “I went to a local lunch counter with J one of my students and I heard the woman behind the counter talking about us as we ate,” she said. “I don’t know what she’s doing working with kids,” the woman behind the counter said. “She can’t even raise her own son.” That was twelve years ago. It still stings. Jackie’s son has had mental-health issues all his life. He is addicted to heroin. Every day, every night, she waits for the phone call she dreads. The one where someone calls to tell her he has died. This is a love story, and a story of almost unendurable pain. Like all love stories, it is both universal and unique. When I met Jackie, she said it was a story she wanted to tell. “I want people to know. The stigma, it’s teacher, It’s a very small town. just so powerful. No one wants to talk “The stigma started then,” Jackie re- about it. No one wants to hear about it.” membered. “And that’s when I started Jamie is 31 now. He lives in a rental walking on eggshells, always fearing losing owned by a family member, and he’s about him to death.” to be evicted. “It kills me,” his mother said. “It just kills amie was in and out of trouble all me. It’s like throwing him out into a flood Jthrough school. The only thing that with a blow-up toy and tell him to hang brought him joy was playing football. on as you wish him good luck.” But when he was a junior in high school She’s going to have to be the one to tell he was kicked off the team for good. His him about his eviction. behavior cut him off again. Jackie said Jamie’s problems started as a child. His she asked the principal point-blank if mother said he was inconsolable at birth, he was sacrificing her son for the good and didn’t talk until he was two. of everybody else, knowing this was the He tried to kill himself for the first only happiness he had. time when he was in first or second The principal said yes. grade, she said. “He got into a fight on Jackie is a slight, soft-spoken woman. the playground, and he didn’t think I’d She was traumatized every time she had punished him enough, so he decided to to deal with that principal. Every time punish himself.” she felt humiliated, frustrated and angry. He tried to hang himself. She had to Every time she tried to fight for her son. call 911. Jamie’s parade of counselors and Jamie’s issues were soon compounded therapy and hospitalizations began. He by substance abuse. When he was in fifth was in the hospital for a month that time. or sixth grade, a friend called Jackie to let He wasn’t even ten years old. her know she’d found Jamie passed out “No one was supposed to know,” Jackie drunk on the railroad tracks on a school said. morning. She moved him to safety and Her ex-husband’s wife told Jamie’s then called his mother. Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 15

Jamie started cycling through juvenile skills and trying to involve families and the she’s seeing younger people than she used court, even into a foster home, where he community in helping. Treatment Court to in those courts, people in their twenties was judged a danger to himself at home. and Family Treatment Court serve as an instead of the stereotypical prescription Because he wasn’t yet 18, there was no alternative to incarceration. Mary said med abuser in his or her forties. firm diagnosis. “Their best guess was Obsessive Defiant Disorder, maybe Bipolar Disorder, and definitely depression,” Jackie said. “I have three college degrees,” she said, “and I had no idea what the right thing to do was.” One of her degrees is in drug and alcohol counseling. But it’s different when it’s your own son.

ary Rosenthal is executive direc- Mtor of ADAC, the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council of Delaware County, a non-profit funded mostly by grants from the state. “Until recently,” Mary said, “opioids were the problem here...heroin, suboxone, prescription meds. But now it’s cocaine and meth. Government’s still focused on opioids, and that’s great, but that’s really not the biggest threat here now.” Why? Addicts, she said, are making a conscious Packed to the rafters decision to get hooked on something that’s less painful for them to stop. “The detox with fun, practical & and withdrawal off cocaine and meth is way easier,” Mary said. “It blew my mind. hard-to-ﬁnd merchandise In 24 years I never saw this happen before.” Meth in Delaware County, she said, is stronger than “normal” meth. “Meth eats Minnetonka Moccasins | Homemade Fudge | Jewelry you from the inside out,” she said. “You | can see it happen. And it’s all so frustrat- Local Books & Maps Old-Fashioned Candies ing to see. We have an opioid crisis, but Old Time Games | Souvenirs & So Much More! overall we have substance abuse. We need to consciously fight all of it.” Come visit us for a unique shopping experience ADAC’s in-school and after-school | | programs are aimed at teaching kids life 84 Main St, Phoenicia, NY 845.688.5851 www.nesteggshop.com SIDEWALK SALE! Starts Friday — October 5th Beautiful Handmade Rising TideͲWƌŽŵŽƟŶŐĂŶĚƐƵƉƉŽƌƟŶŐ SCARVES, HATS & MITTENS ĂƌƟƐĂŶƐ ŝŶ /ŶĚŝĂ ĂŶĚ EĞƉĂů ĨŽƌ ϮϬн 50% ǇĞĂƌƐ͘ƉĞƌĐĞŶƚĂŐĞŽĨĂůůƐĂůĞƐŐŽƚŽ — from — ĐŽƵŶƚƌǇͲŽĨͲŽƌŝŐŝŶ ĐŚĂƌŝƟĞƐ ĂŶĚ E'KƐ ƐƵĐŚ ĂƐ ƚŚĞ ^ĂŶƟ ^ĐŚŽŽů WƌŽũĞĐƚ ŝŶ OFF EĞƉĂů͘ƵǇĂƐĐĂƌĨʹŵĂŬĞĂĚŝīĞƌĞŶĐĞ͊ Great Gift Items • 50% Off Selected Jewelry & Accessories! “Looking Good” is located inside 140 N. Chestnut, New Paltz • 845-255-5020 • OPEN DAILY 10am - 7pm 16 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co.

“Some are self-medicating. They’ve The Clothing Department at got mental-health issues, or they’ve had trauma.” The challenge in a rural county is economic. “There are no jobs, no public transporta- tion, and education, I hate to say it, is a problem, too,” Mary said. “There’s a lack your destination for unique of skills.” And a shortage of hope. clothing, jewelry & accessories “We aren’t keeping young people here,” she said. “What’s here for them?”

ackie’s son finally had to with- Jdraw from high school and got his GED. He had a goal. He wanted to join the Army. “Jamie lied to the recruiter and he got in,” she remembers. “When we went to his graduation from boot camp, it was the happiest I’ve ever seen him.” “It’s the first time I ever graduated from anything!” Jamie exclaimed proudly. He was deployed to South Korea, where, she says, he served under a sergeant who New Autumn Looks Arriving Daily took him gambling and to prostitutes. 6 N. Front Street, New Paltz (845) 255-6277 Then he came back to base camp in Hawaii, where he got into trouble and Hours: 10-7 Daily, 10-6 Sundays was confined until being deployed to Afghanistan. Jamie was deployed in 2011. He was in field artillery and became a sharpshooter. He won awards. He was promoted to sergeant. One day, Jackie got a phone call from overseas. “Ma, I just don’t feel right,” Jamie said. “That was the beginning of the out-of- your-mind behavior,” Jackie says. He was sent to Hawaii, where Jackie got a call from the psychiatric ward. Jamie had had a psychotic break. “It turned out when he went for help with his undiagnosed depression in Afghani- stan, they gave him Adderall,” Jackie said.

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If you ﬁ nd what we’re doing valuable, consider making contribution. Your support ensures independent local journalism will thrive in the Hudson Valley for years to come. More: hudsonvalleyone.com/support. Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 17 “It’s why I won all those awards,” Jamie Taste told her. “I could go all day!” When she first talked on the phone with Jamie, she started to shake. Her son was so angry, so abusive. Pizza & Restaurant “It was all my fault, right down to his Angela’s conception,” she remembered. “And two hours later he called and it was ‘Hi, Mom. Catering Catering How ya doin’?’ Like that other call never Now Catering happened. That’s when I hooked up with AvailableComing soon... a new menu! a counselor again.” Mondays $9.95 Large Cheese Pizza All Day! Delivery: 11am - 10pm, Fri & Sat ’til 11pm Route 9W and Leggs Mill Rd., Lake Katrine Cake Box (845) 382-2211 • www.angelaspizzarestaurant.com Bakery/Cafe 246 main street Halloween & Fall Cakes, new paltz Pies & Pastries now Available! 845.255.1717 Reserve Today for your www.gadaletos.com Fall Festivities!

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When Jamie came home with an “other It took me a long time to come to terms.” When she talks to family, the advice she than honorable” discharge, he started hears is “Don’t enable him,” “Cut him off.” doing crack. Then he met a woman and he remembers telling her She is angry. “I just want someone to married her within a week. He started Sson “I don’t want to lose you.” listen and understand the vast range of doing meth. “I’ve been gone since 2012,” he replied. painful emotions that come with seeing “It wasn’t until 2016 that I understood Jamie has committed himself and has my son hungry, dirty, strung-out and inco- he had a drug problem,” his mother says. talked about or tried rehab multiple herent. And you tell me I can’t feed him?” “I always thought it was mental health. times. He’s been in and out of trouble with Jackie said she started shutting down. A Warm Irish Welcome the police. And the more his problems She wakes up every day, not knowing what escalated, Jackie said, the more people is going to come. Awaits You At isolated her. “Stress, for me, comes out as illness and immobilizing pain because I just can’t Taste talk about it.” She said her own medical history for the past few years has been piled high. She’s recently been diagnosed with early- stage emphysema. She knows she should quit smoking, but “cigarettes don’t let me Gastropub • Dining • Events down. They’ve always been there for me.” “Please stop smoking,” Jamie said. “You Eclectic American Cuisine don’t want to die of that.” with an Irish Twist! “Gatehouse to When Jamie announced he was going Featuring Chef Josh Paige to rehab one Mother’s Day, she allowed

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DION OGUST Tourists trudge over Tannery Brook on Tinker Street in Woodstock. Wave your freak ﬂ ag high By the time we got to Woodstock it had turned into East Hampton

By Harry Matthews of as actual fact, was that Woodstock Soho?” The latter irony was that most of was fast becoming the next Hamptons. Soho was hardly ever a neighborhood regular refrain I’ve heard It seemed to me at first little more than but more a center of sweatshops and over the past few years, sur- the irony found at the heart of a bad factories churning and pumping out prising at first but with re- joke, something maybe along the lines of manufactured goods. Apeated consistency spoken “Hey, did you hear that they’ve gentrified In a similar vein, one that I wrote about

DION OGUST The village green in Woodstock has retained its familiar shape for over a century. Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 21

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Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8am-5pm, Sat. 8am-2pm, Closed Sun. 9W & Van Kleecks Lane, Kingston (845) 338-4936 AugustineNursery.com 22 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. in these very pages, was which Hudson next Williamsburg North. I shudder to level of success with a focus on money. river town would end up becoming the think…What that spells, ultimately, is a The augmented repetition of the Hamptons line coming from all sides Home & garden did start to make me wonder and look at Woodstock in a different way, possibly with more deeply probing eyes tuned to changes happening right under our very noses. Was that really a Lamborghini that I saw driving down Tinker Street the other day? Was that Kanye and Elton GALLERY + SCULPTURE PARK huddled conspiratorially over martinis at the Bear Cafe? (The first was true, the second merely a nightmare.) Woodstock, for all of its charm and rock and roll, has long presented itself as a place of tolerance, a community that would protect its far-left ideologies to the death. live edge space age cutting edge It seemed to have a heartfelt commitment furniture artifacts autos to an almost-anything-goes-if-you’re-an- Come see what the hullabaloo has always been about! artist mentality. Over the years, it has been a safe harbor for those of us who want to 3930 ROUTE 28 BOICEVILLE NY 12412 wave our freak flags high, dress how the fabulousfurnitureon28.com • [email protected] • 845.750.3035 hell we want to dress, and generally get our groove on, whatever our groove might be. What’s wrong with that, you might ask? Nothing, nothing at all, except for the fact that a village has to survive. Very little of freak flags flying and grooves being got- ten on helps bring in that demon seed of progress and survival; cold hard cash. One can’t live on love alone, though one can live on Bread Alone alone, that is if you have the bread to buy the Bread Alone bread. Woodstock is by far the most well-known town in the Catskills. If say, while in some other part of the world, far-flung or not, someone asks you where live, you might mention another local town. That does little beyond causing a look of complete bewilderment across the asker’s face. You follow it up with, “It’s near Wood- stock”. They inevitably ask “Do you mean that Woodstock?” You nod. They smile. Mystery solved. Apart from sharing a region, a mountain range and with hope a little bit of inspiration, there is very little else that Woodstock has in common with the rest of this beautiful area. Though Woodstock has over the years done its fair share of rubbing off on places like Phoenicia, Rosendale, Kingston, Saugerties and even that old stick-in-the-mud Catskill, none of these other places have ever been called the Sixth Borough of New York City, something that I’ve heard said about Woodstock, more often than not jokingly, but on so regular a basis as to start to believe it. By referencing Woodstock as Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 23 an upstate continuation of New York City, ways at that time. It was at the begin- leafpeepers pass through on their annual one cannot be sure whether the township ning of autumn, with deep winter a few migration. Then things get really quiet as is aware of the potential for alienating months away. Things can get pretty quiet the snowbirds pack up and head south. itself from its neighbors all around. Or in Woodstock once the fall comes blow- Luckily I slipped in just before the if it even cares. ing in and peaks again for a bit as the Airbnb craze. I’ve heard that since then The fact that the majority of the population are city transplants is harmless enough, but it also means that few mul- SPEND LESS AND tigenerational deep roots exist here, the same roots that often define a community. Feeling as though I barely had any roots GET MORE DONE. anywhere myself, Woodstock beckoned to me like only India ever had in the NO WONDER 98% OF MAHINDRA OWNERS past. And don’t you know, after moving WOULD RECOMMEND ONE TO A NEIGHBOR to Woodstock one day almost exactly ten years ago, I awoke one morning to the glaring realization that I was in a place that I actually fit right into. My qualifications were simple. I was a not too successful artist still seeking something to do with my life, and thus I sought out like-minded people. Wood- stock seemed perfect. I was a New Yorker, or “cidiot,” as one youngster described me, as in “Speed up or get the hell out of the way, ya damn cidiot!” He said it while passing my not-so- fast-and-slightly dysfunctional Subaru. Includes 4’ Economy Blade Woodstock was perfect for me in many 9 Ð 1 !; #!/1.3 1#! -3, !1 . !1 ,.

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it’s no longer so easy to find a place to rent around the hamlet these days. Airbnb has both helped and hurt many communities, Woodstock included. It has made it near-impossible for many longtimers to find anywhere to live. It has allowed many 21A Colonial Drive, New Paltz absentee homeowners to rent out their houses while they’re away, which often 1 AND 2 BEDROOM APARTMENTS has in turn encouraged rowdy parties that ~ No Security Deposit Option ~ do little to engender community spirit but greatly annoy the neighbors. 3 - 12 Month Leasing Terms • Pets Welcome! Now Airbnb and its ilk seem to be thriv- Pool & Laundry on Site ing throughout the Catskills, a boon to Please Call: 845-255-6171 many who can greatly use the extra cash. For a township the size of Woodstock, over 600 Airbnb rentals is disproportionate in the extreme. Marigold fter I lived about two years in AWoodstock neighborhoods like HOME Shady and Yerry Hill, I had the oppor- tunity to buy a house in a small hamlet 20 minutes away. I jumped at it. I had moved to the area to be in Woodstock, but the deal was just too fortuitous to pass up. “It’s only 20 minutes away,” I thought. It seemed a whole different world than where I’d spent the previous two years. INTERIOR DESIGN Gone were the snowbirds, the celebrity & FURNISHINGS Pirouette® Window Shadings sightings (not that I really cared but…), Get ready for KINGSTON | RHINEBECK | WOODSTOCK $ ASK the sixth-borough vibe that I had grown holiday gatherings REBATES100 FOR to like, the hippie shops, the hippies. I with stylish new STARTING AT DETAILS 845-338-0800 on qualifying purchases* was suddenly living somewhere in up- shades and save. marigold-home.com SEPTEMBER 22–DECEMBER 10, 2018 state New York where there were families *Manufacturer’s mail-in rebate offer valid for qualifying purchases made 9/22/18–12/10/18 from participating dealers in the U.S. only. Rebate will be issued in the form of a prepaid reward card and mailed within 4 weeks of rebate claim approval. Funds do that had been here for over a century not expire. Subject to applicable law, a $2.00 monthly fee will be assessed against card balance 6 months after card issuance and each month thereafter. See complete terms distributed with reward card. Additional limitations may apply. Ask participating Home Decor | Upholstery dealer for details and rebate form. ©2018 Hunter Douglas. All rights reserved. All trademarks used herein are the property of years, where they went to church, had Window Treatments Hunter Douglas or their respective owners. 18Q4MAGPC1 pie-baking contests, chili cookoffs and Wallcoverings | Fabrics pancake breakfasts at the local firehouse. Gifts | Bath & Body Home & garden THEY’RE GETTING READY 10% OFF FOR FALL. ARE YOU? expires 10/31/18

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If I wasn’t in the complete backwoods of will all be great as long as I don’t discuss Lamborghinis (I only ever saw one), more rural upstate, I sure was a lot closer. Life politics or religion. affordable housing, the swimming holes seemed a little more weirdly real. I’m glad that Woodstock is only 20 kept free for all to enjoy whether people With the perspective caused by the 20 minutes away, that there is a place, real are clothed or not, and maybe a few less minutes it took me to drive between my or not, that mostly shares and holds my Airbnbs. house and Woodstock, I could see things politics dear, a place still likes a good I’m no one to talk, as I live off Airbnb. with different eyes. Was Woodstock still march for a cause, and has one of the best In the end we could all be a little more that shining beacon of freedom in the damned community Thanksgivings I’ve real and a little less angry. Remember, wild that I had always seen it as and that ever experienced, where I can talk politics it’s not all about money. Some of it is all I imagined it purported itself to be? To and religion the entire time!. about love. some degree, it was. But it seemed also In the end I would prefer to see fewer just as money-hungry and mildly desperate as anywhere else. When I heard about the Woodstock Way development +$1'0$'( by the waterfall practically in the center of town, it seemed to me the exact op- 67$57,1*)52067$7$$57,57 1*1*1 )52) 0 posite of any “way” Woodstock might &$37$,16 have about it. Just as New York City follows artists to forgotten neighborhoods and works '5(66(56 %('6

its magic of gentrification, so Woodstock seemed to be following suit. It reminded %22.&$6(6 &+(676 me of Williamsburg in the early 2000s. 67$57,1*)520 67$57,1*$7 . There seemed to me a veritable stampede . "&## of real-estate development rushing in .""" to take over our forgotten little part of town. Many of us who had been there since the 1980s found it a horror show.

We were all mostly living in abandoned ZZZEDUHIXUQLWXUHQ\FRP industrial buildings that nobody wanted or had any use for. We lived there out of necessity because it was cheap. We wanted to make art and music and write without having to work 40-hour weeks. It sure as hell wasn’t charming. But what we did was make way for the future gentrification. I can’t say that I’m an expert on Wood- stock. When it became a possibility for me to buy a house, Woodstock was so far out of my price range that I was seriously shocked and dismayed. It was like Williamsburg had followed me north. It wasn’t all young hedge-funders and techie geeks driving the housing prices up, though, but families and older well- off hippies. Who was to blame? Albert Grossman? Dylan? The Band? Bowie? The real-estate EMERGENCY SERVICE AVAILABLE developers who make bags of money com- modifying the Sixties alt movement with • Well Pump Service • Oil & Gas Heating Systems - Hotel Dylan and Woodstock Way? • Plumbing Repairs & Installation Installation & service But I have to say that I’m glad I live where I do, in the real world. It’s fall again. I • Water Filtration Systems • Septic & Drain Installation/ have three cords of wood to cut and split, • Radiant Heat Flooring Sump Pump Installation gardens to put to bed, and a hundred other chores that need doing before the snow flies. I’ll go to the pancake breakfast at the firehouse and the pie contest in the back room of the church up the road. That 26 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. The sporting life Want to really go paleo? First you’ll need a permit

By Will Dendis young, older hunters say, about half the dozens of classes were offered within 50 boys in a high-school class would skip miles of the mid-Hudson Valley. Most of all’s first chill; another school for opening day of deer season. them filled up quickly. summer gone, and soon, an- More hunters in the woods weren’t a I attended one in mid-September at other year. The realization is a problem. Because more hunters caused a sportsmen’s club in Hurley. Over the Fpassing bit of melancholy for deer to move course of eight many, but not for hunters. Since well be- around, they were hours, my class- fore recorded history — before steel, ag- actually helpful. mates and I were riculture, even fire — changing seasons Today. a dimin- led through the meant different wild game would be on ishing number Is it possible to love rules of gun han- the move. For big-game hunters in the of older hunt- dling and given Northeast, that usually means white- ers walk quieter something and kill it? an overview of tailed deer, when the fall breeding sea- woods. Hunters say yes. the role hunting son drives otherwise wary bucks out of The sport may plays in conser- deep cover into the open. be on the decline, vation. We were Hunting isn’t as popular as it once was. but you wouldn’t inculcated with According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife know it from the sportsman’s Service, about five percent of Americans browsing the registration site for the safety ethos. In the afternoon, after a lunch of aged 16 and older hunt. Twice as many course required for all new hunters. At any very modestly priced hamburgers and hot hunted 50 years ago. When they were given time over the last several months, dogs, we received basic firearms training: Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 27 target shooting with a .22 rifle (which is express opposition to hunters who eat That said, many would prefer hunters a very small caliber) and trap shooting what they kill. If anything, there’s usually carry out their work solemnly; even say with a 20-gauge shotgun. a note of respect, even from vegetarians. a sort of prayer, as we’re told hunter- Then we took a written a test. Everyone After all, assuming you are going to eat gatherers did. “I ask the Great Deer Spirit passed. meat, as 97 percent of Americans do, it’s to sacrifice one of your number so that I I was expecting the class to consist of hard to argue that killing and eating wild may feed my family.” myself and a couple of dozen 16-year-old animals who live as nature intended is less In reality a successful hunt is exhila- boys, but it was more diverse. About a virtuous than consuming beef raised on a rating sport, like scoring a touchdown, quarter of my classmates were female, and feedlot hundreds of miles away. not grim business. Hunters rejoice after there were at least a few representatives from nearly every decade of adulthood. Destinations Some of the older attendees had been hunting before and had lost their hunter- safety course certificates. Or at least that was their story. The course centers on safety. At the end of eight hours, we were all suitably aware of the dangers posed by a loaded firearm, which can inflict injuries to one’s self and others in myriad ways. for Apparently, crossing a fence is especially perilous. The proper procedure was spelled out both verbally by our instructors and in a video. Later, we all took autumn turns crossing a makeshift fence outside the club. The cover of the coursebook shows not a magnificent twelve-point leisure buck scenting the wind in a November cornfield, nor an eager young hunter with his proud papa preparing to take his first shot. The cover was of two hunters on either side of a fence, passing an unloaded firearm over the top. You don’t learn much about hunting tac- tics. What kind of gun should I get? Where are the deer? Where should you be? How do you field-dress wild game? But there is only so much ground the instructors can cover in a single-day session. Given the choice between safe but ineffective hunters and the inverse, though, I can’t argue with their priorities.

surprising amount of attention Awas given to the importance of Go to nature. maintaining a good reputation among the non-hunting public. We were told Taste the soil. that about five percent of Americans Find adventure. hunt, five percent are anti-hunting, and Live richly. the rest are indifferent. But that could change. Hunters driving around with deer carcasses strapped to the hood of their trucks, who take shots near homes, SEEK FOR or hunt on posted private property, sully the image of sportsmen everywhere. YOURSELF. Hunting isn’t a right, we’re told. If the public turns against the practice, it ulstercountyalive.com could be forbidden someday. Really? I thought. I know plenty of animal-lovers, and I never heard them 28 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. Destinations killing. Some find this troubling. Perhaps the International Hunter Education Association should advise hunters who make videos to leave out the end-zone celebration. Is it possible to love something and kill it? Hunters say yes. They say no one does more to protect wild habitat. Taxes on licenses, firearms and other hunting equipment fund conservation. Even big- ticket trophy hunts in Africa, which seem to have few public defenders, are probably the only hope for the continued wild ex- istence of many species. With a growing population demanding more land for homes and agriculture, there’s simply no other reason that makes financial sense. In our neck of the woods, where the COME EXPLORE THE HAUNTS OF RIP VAN WINKLE population of white-tailed deer is doin New York’s Legendary ing just fine, hunters argue that they’re Catskill Mountains taking the place of predators. If deer An Adventure Everyone Will Enjoy! weren’t hunted, their populations would TRAIN RIDES be subject to cycles of boom and bust, with years of plenty followed by years of

Come explore the legendary fall foliage from our trains! disease and starvation. My reasons to take part are a mix of On Sunday, children ride free family bonding, clean meat and curiosity. when accompanied by an adult and they bring along two cans of food or items for the Community Pantry I wonder: Is hunting as simple and dull as I’d always assumed? It consists of more than sitting in a treestand freezing your

We are open Friday, Saturday and Sundays through October. ass off and then taking a shot a defense- For more information: (845) 586-3877 less ungulate, followed by the messy work We operate rain or shine! We’re a good place to be on a rainy day. of gutting and processing, all just for 30 http://durr.org/index.php/events to 40 pounds of lean, sometimes tough FOR UPCOMING EVENTS OR PRIVATE CHARTERS: meat? Is it possible we have a primordial 43510 STATE HIGHWAY 28 | ARKVILLE, NY 12406 | 800.225.4132 | www.durr.org switch inside, waiting to be flipped when we enter the woods in search of quarry? There’s only one way to find out. OLANAFREDERIC CHURCH’S ON THE HUDSON Everything A Rizzoli Electa publication Ulster Publishing now in one place. D

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Search “Hunter Safety Course New York” for a link to local course registrations. Ferncliff There are still some openings as of this writing. Opening day for regular deer season this year is November 17. More Forest details on the New York State DEC site. Rhinebeck’s number one free attraction The largest selection of contemporary offering an amazing Crafts in the Hudson Valley view of the Hudson Crafts People Valley from our Observation Tower. representing over 500 crafts people Enjoy hiking, picnics, camping or just walk your dog in our wonderful 200 acre Forest Preserve. Open all year 68 Mount Rutsen Rd.

An incredible selection of jewelry, pottery, Rhinebeck, NY toys, blown glass, turned wood, chimes... 845-876-3196 OPEN FRI SAT SUN MON forfoor additionalada d information 10:30AM - 6PM www.craftspeople.us • 845.331.3859 262 Spillway Road, West Hurley, NY LikeL us on Facebook Fall Fun For The Whole Family! Celebrate Fall at Catskill Animal Sanctuary! • Vegan Treats from Cinnamon Snail, Yeah Dawg, & More • Pumpkin Decorating & Live Music • Vegan Vendors & Rafﬂe • Outdoor Yoga • Cooking Demos with Free Samples Kids Under 5 Are Free! Tickets at Saturday bit.ly/Gobble-2018 October 20th Don’t forget! Tours every weekend 11am-4pm through November! 30 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co.

A grasshopper’s advice Practical preparations for seasonal change

By Elisabeth Henry easy to sit in a doorway, lean back, and and the hydrangea, so voluptuous and think about that spiderweb. fragrant that we can stop wishing it to write this on the sort of hot day You will not notice that the evening be named B. Bardot and forgive the un- that melts your ice pop for full-fla- primrose is gone. So, too, the iris, the fortunate moniker Pee Gee. vor enhancement. It’s dog-days dec- daylily, the eastern tiger swallowtail. We The sky is blue, the clouds billow. Oh, I adent, and then some. It’s so easy, have monarchs and black-eyed Susans Lord, we could live like this forever. TOWN OF SHANDAKEN HISTORICAL MUSEUM Destinations

26 Academy Street NORA is Learning, Adventure and Fun! Pine Hill | 845.254.4460 Rental Vehicles Available Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday Hunter Mtn 4x4 Tours For registration info, visit: 10 am - 4 pm Vehicle Recovery Training www.nyoffroaddriving.com with exhibits from all hamlets in the town Team Building & Competitive Events [email protected] Native American exhibits as well Private Instruction Available 845-514-9896 Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 31

Well, you’re not going to, unless you per season or per storm. If you plan to His hunger is much harder to dissuade, opt to chase those waves in an endless- do your own snow removal, inspect your plus you are teaching these very willing summer lifestyle. vehicle, your plow and your snowblower. students to regard human habitation as Otherwise, be sure to get in your wood. a convenient buffet. This leads to tragedy. It’s a little late. You should have done this peaking of snow, get your snow Wholly preventable tragedy. a year ago to guarantee dry wood. In any Stires affixed by Halloween. Delay, As Missy Runyon chants “Let Wild Be case, a reputable wood guy is essential. and you will face long hours in the car Wild.” I’ve heard bird expert Rich Guthrie You’ll want good, dry, clean hardwoods guy’s waiting room reading dog-eared reassure WAMC listeners that the birds like maple, oak, sycamore, cherry and copies of The Enquirer or Tag Sale Clas- will survive without the feeders. But if walnut. Ash is good. Ash burns hot, but sified. There’s always a last-minute rush. you enjoy watching them and feel better does not leave coals. Oak leaves coals. If you have an older car, check the bat- making sure there is food in the bitter Prices vary. Someone I consulted figured tery. If you drive diesel, buy 911 now, or days provide feeders, but not too early. a full cord should run you $200, a face you won’t get it once winter comes. It’s Put away lawn furniture. Pick up any- cord $100. Late spring is the best buy time an anti-gel additive. thing that might become frozen to the to buy pellets. The big-box stores want to Check windows and doors for weather ground and covered in snow. This may make room for summer inventory, and the stripping. Make sure there’s no way a become the subject of the story you tell the price is nice. August is too late for a good squirrel family can gnaw into the eaves of emergency-room doctor as your femur is price, but you need to stock up. your house. Likewise, check that skunks, being taped. Or cast. Likewise, locate your It happens that the stores run out in wood chucks and possums can’t squat in snow shovels, ice choppers and scrapers late winter. You don’t want to run that the basement, under the deck or the piers. and position them accordingly. boiler. Oil futures make it tricky to stock Skunks will be particularly unwelcome in up on fossil fuels. You could make a habit February. That’s mating season, and each hink ahead about what winter of eyeballing the market, and stock up one is on his or her last nerve. Twill be like for your pets. Find a when the price is down, but pegging the Mice, maybe rats, will come in. Gird your good place in the house for your birds market is tough. loins and set traps, or get a cat. Nothing and aquatic friends. Optimally, this Change the filters on your oil and works like a cat. Be sure to get a scrappy, should not be near windows. If eaves kerosene tanks. Clean and inspect your scrawny streetwise character that’s been hang over the door you use to let out chimneys. Stock up on salt and sand to rescued from a barn. Not only does he or your dog or cat, remember to check for combat the inevitable and dreaded ice. she know what her job is but, more im- a snow load about to let go. Maybe put a Before autumn turns frosty, drain the portantly, he or she knows what hunger is. gas out of lawn mowers, leaf blowers, Do not put out bird feeders until Decem- chain saws, and any tool or appliance with ber, or later. Otherwise the bear moves in. a small engine. If you use high-test fuel n the Hil bought at Stewart’s, you don’t have to do O l Antiques ues@Skill this. It is the ethanol in the non-high-test ntiq ypo stuff that will eat the rubber parts of your A t $17,48(&(17(5a$8&7,21*$//(5< carburetor, fuel pump, etc. Store Closing Make a contract with a snowplow guy RHINEBECK now. They get booked up and should you ANTIQUE plan to take each day as it comes you will EMPORIUM SALE pay. 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Dog and cat pads suffer with ice salt, so be ready to attend to that. Do not tie out your dog. This practice will not only guarantee that the dog jumps on you, your friends, your ancient ancestors. It could also kill the animal. Horses will require water all winter. If your child is nagging you about buying a horse, don’t do it until Darling can pick up a five-gallon bucket of water and walk it at least 50 feet. Unless you yourself like doing that. Horses require lots of water, always. And that stuff freezes in these parts. If your horse stops drinking water, soak the feed and hay. Cold water might be the problem. Get a heated bucket and stand there and watch him drink. Keep the small pets inside as much as you can, and supervise outdoor activity. Coyotes are hungry in winter. Bring in all the plants you want to over- fig tree and protect your more delicate Compost the fallen deciduous leaves. Or winter. It’s a shocking move, and doing shrubs. Wind will harm as much as frost. make leaf mulch to add to your garden it now prevents harm. Plant your garlic, Once all the leaves have dropped on in spring. flower bulbs, green manure. Wrap your your shrubs (like spirea), you can prune. To make leaf mulch, you must shred the dry, fallen leaves with a leaf shredder or A gift in the mail is a joy to open — week after week! wood chopper. Place twelve-inch- to-18- inch layers of this in a bin, or just a pile. On top of each layer, add a handful of urea, bone meal, ammonium nitrate or (if you have ’em) grass clippings. Mix the leaves and nitrogen additive with water, but do not saturate. Wet the leaves while adding the additive. Repeat the layering until all his holiday season, give a gift subscription to one of Ulster Publishing’s the leaves are processed, or your bin is Tweekly newspapers at the low cost of $10 for six months. If requested, full. Cover with a tarp or plastic lid over we will also send you a gift card to mail or to put under the tree. Week in and winter, and add to your garden in spring. week out, we tell the stories of our communities. Our news is independent After the leaves fall, clean out your and 100-percent local. No other newspaper lets you know what’s happening gutters and check your leaders. Thank at all levels of local government, business, development, schools, sports, whomever you do not live in the Carolinas. the environment and with your neighbors. Together, with Almanac Weekly My son was cleaning a bend in a clogged leader and a six-inch coiled snake of — the region’s best guide to art, entertainment and adventure and a unknown variety jumped out at him and comprehensive calendar and classiﬁ eds — a subscription has something missed his face by a hair. for everyone. A gift in the mail is a joy to open — week after week. You will find out now that the threat of $ * the moth is real, unless you safeguarded every woolen thing in a rubber tubby with SIX MONTHS FOR$ * 10 SIX MONTHS FOR 10 a tight lid. I don’t use mothballs. Who can *offer valid for new subscribers only live with that stink? This is a good moment to reiterate the ❏ Kingston Times Gift for: advice about the cat. Mousies seem to love ❏ New Paltz Times Name ❏ Saugerties Times linen. They chew horrid little holes in the Address ❏ Woodstock Times very best things, and then line their horrid, City State Zip smelly little nests with the chewed bits. To redeem this offer, fill out the form at right and mail it with a $10 check or money order to: ❑ Check here if you prefer an e-subscription. E-subs are full versions of our print newspaper And another thing. We almost lost our Ulster Publishing viewable online on your laptop, tablet, home computer or smartphone. entire enterprise here when we discovered PO Box 3329 Please provide recipient’s email address: ______Kingston, NY 12402 Their user name and password will be emailed to them. that mice had packed every electrical junc-

Gift from: tion box with nest material cemented by Or call 334-8200 with a M/C, Visa or Discovercard horrid little crushed mousie poop. Packed. Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 33

And just waiting to ignite. October 6 October 31 I know that much of what I write makes HHS Cider Tasting & Market Trick or Treat on Huguenot Street me a scold. It is the voice I use to myself, at Applestock though, because I love summer so, so November 30 much. Community Tree Lighting I am the grasshopper. I must force my- October 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, self to follow my own advice. So in case 25, 26, 27 & 28 November 30 to December 1 all this has been one big buzz kill let me Haunted Huguenot Street offer this exquisite piece by Mary Oliver. A Holiday on Huguenot Street Hers are beautiful words.

Lines written in the days 81 Huguenot Street, New Paltz of growing darkness (845) 255-1660 | huguenotstreet.org by Mary Oliver Every year we have been witness to it: how the world descends into a rich mash, in order that it may resume. And therefore who would cry out to the petals on the ground to stay, knowing as we must, how the vivacity of what was is married to the vitality of what will be? I don’t say it’s easy, but what else will do if the love one claims to have for the world be true? So let us go on, cheerfully enough, this and every crisping day, though the sun be swinging east, and the ponds be cold and black, and the sweets of the year be doomed.

Halloween Columbia “We’ve Moved Across Town” 1082 MORTON BLVD., KINGSTON, NY 12401 (845) 339-4996

WIGS • HALLOWEEN • HAIR • MAKE-UP & COSTUME RENTALS 34 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. It’s the water, folks Why else would so much inspiration have come from so empty a place?

By Elisabeth Henry

eep in the Catskills there are waterfalls and swimming holes and rock springs Dand hidden lakes that have names and locations known only to the locals. You are tempted right now to turn the page. Don’t. Forgive me, Elmore Leonard, but one cannot write about the Catskills without writing about the actual “place.” And the pure, clear water. Perhaps that’s The Saugerties Lighthouse, where the Hudson River meets the Esopus Creek. why New York City became a mecca for art. Given the amount of innovation and thing in the water. New York City’s thirst is quenched by creative breakthroughs that originated Nature’s alchemy makes it so that from the watershed waters — waters that spill here, it could just be that there is some- these lonely peaks and tiny towns all of profusely from the a rocky aquifer (some of the most ancient stone on the planet) Halloween carpeted and camouflaged by fairytale forest and then pour, unfiltered, into the tunnels and aqueducts of The Big Apple. Oh, sure you want some dish on the cool- est filmmaker that just moved here. Or his muse. Or hers. They are here. But, unlike in other getaway destinations, celebrities come here to disappear. Celebrities have been coming here as long as the New World has produced celebrities. (Please note: Even if you glommed the “best …” at Sundance, wear those Gucci flip-flops up the climb to Kaaterskill Falls and you might really disappear and become yet another Catskill Ghost Story. You’ve been warned.) Let’s not confuse that truth with the much-mentioned Golden Years of The Borscht Belt. I have no facts to cite, but perhaps those places thrived due to the proximity to New York City and, perhaps, relatively cheaper real estate. People who come here must really want to come here. It’s not easy. And it gets harder as the moons progress. But that’s part of the charm. It’s empty.

opular-culture action started Pearly. The American naturalists John Bartram and his son William came to the Catskills in 1753 as part of their explorations into the region’s plant life, focus- Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 35 ing particularly on the balsam fir, known of production and industrial steel found scapes, sold them out of a bookstore in among the colonists as balm of Gilead fir in British cities, New York’s pastoral land- the city, and thus founded The Hudson and believed by both them and the In- scape was an untamed riot of color that River School of Painting. It wasn’t long dians to have curative powers. While led into a vast and unspoiled wilderness. before art stars like Frederic Church and their explorations were not extensive, In that year he painted a few land- Bierstadt and Asher Durand arrived with the elder Bartram’s short account of the adventure, A Journey to Ye Cat Skill THE NEW CORN CRIB GREENHOUSE Mountains with Billy, was widely read and appreciated both in America and LOCAL, FRESH, SEASONAL FAVORITES abroad. It is the first literary apprecia- tion of the Catskills as a natural environ- RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER ment. Washington Irving carved out a suc- Open 7 Days 9am – 5pm cessful writing career in 1819 based on a 200 Salt Point Turnpike, Poughkeepsie NY collection of short stories that contains 845-471-5956 • [email protected] The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle. Irving cashed in on the mystery WE CARRY ALL OF YOUR OUTDOOR of “The Blue Mountains,” the summits FALL DECORATING NEEDS! which when viewed from a distance seem to disappear in a veil of clouds. To his con- Straw • Mums • Pumpkins • Hay temporary readers, the harsh landscape Gourds • Corn Stalks • Indian Corn and plentiful wildlife was as much threat as escape. Spooky. The forest was most MUMS certainly enchanted. PUMPKINS When considering attractions, let’s starting at not overlook the major body of water, $1.99 starting at the mighty Hudson. It was a trip up the $1.99 Hudson River in the autumn of 1825 that proved to be a dazzling turning point in the life of the young Englishman Thomas Cole. He marveled at the colorful fall foliage surrounding the unspoiled river banks. Compared to the churning wheels FOR SPECIALS AND DETAILS VISIT US ON OUR Farm fresh FACEBOOK PAGE NEW CORN CRIB GREENHOUSE 36 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. brushes, canvas and paint, attracted by was a celebrity author, as famous then as dace Wheeler: The Art and Enterprise the wild, romantic world Cole depicted. the literary, political and industrial lu- of American Design, 1875 and 1900 by Many others followed. One can see many minaries with whom he consorted, men Amelia Peck and Carol Irish. A number of these works at the permanent collect in like Jay Gould, Ralph Waldo Emerson, of the working women were single, and the Museum of Art and History in Albany. Thomas Edison, John Muir, Walt Whit- while their presence in other 19th-century One should also see the current work of man, Theodore Roosevelt and Henry summer colonies may not have been as young Lauren Sansaricq, whose beautiful Ford. welcome, the women were “accepted and landscapes are mounted in the Hawthorne By 1912, special editions of his nature admired” in heeler’s circle, according to Gallery in Manhattan, making her the essays were used as reading primers in the book. While not a radical, Wheeler youngest artist so honored. Sansaricq grew almost every school district in the country. consistently worked to help other women up in Columbia County and lives an au- In the words of his biographer Edward achieve financial independence. thentic artist’s life, often perched on rocky Renehan, Burroughs’ special identity was Mark Twain was one of the famous male ledges, painting plein-air. And she sings, less that of a scientific naturalist than vacationers to Mrs. Wheeler’s summer too. She was recently featured on WDST. that of “a literary naturalist with a duty colony. He sat outside his cottage spin- to record his own unique perceptions of ning tales to all who would listen — elite n 1860, young John Burroughs, the the natural world.” The result was a body literati and locals alike. Iseventh child of a farmer in Roxbury, of work whose resonance with the tone This was 1890. The community chose New York, was published in The Atlantic of its cultural moment explains both its the name Onteora, which was said to Monthly. His essay drew the attention popularity at that time and its relative come from a Delaware Indian word for of the editor, who suspected it had been obscurity since. Can you imagine the the area meaning “hills of the sky.” Upon plagiarized from the work of his friend squalls of animal-rights activists when it is closer scrutiny of historic documents, we Ralph Waldo Emerson. Burroughs went learned that a portrait of Burroughs took learn that “Onteora” is a made-up name on to become an important writer. He much longer to complete than anticipated preferred by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, a due to the fact that the great man often geographer, geologist, and ethnographer, broke his pose to jump off the stump he whose ear was offended by the guttural occupied to shoot woodchucks? Germanic names common in the area. He re-baptized many places and things to n 1883, Candace Wheeler, an expert better suit his own brand of lyricism. These Iin textiles and interiors, purchased names were always purported to be Native land on Parker Mountain near to Hunt- American, which served both to sound er Mountain. She sought to carve out a melodic and to defy common curiosity. “wild life” (in summer only, of course) This sort of mining of the naiveté of amid rugged surroundings, in a “realm newcomers is nothing to sneeze at. Make “Best of unknown beauty.” Mrs. Wheeler was note. As in, when your car skids into a Farm a founder of the Society of Decorative building on Main Street during a blizzard, Arts. She partnered with Louis Comfort and you weep to the attending local police Stand” Tiffany and in 1883 established her own officers and the tow truck operator, “But I design firm, Associated Artists. purposely purchased a car good in snow. FALL HARVEST FUN! Many of the early residents of the A BMW!” “Duly noted,” they answer and Pumpkin community that grew around her vision smile as they continue to dash off many ci- Mountain were professional women, particularly tations and hoist your crumpled ride onto & Spooky writers, according to the biography, Can- the massive bed with screeching chains. Tunnel! Farm fresh Corn Maze Pick-Your-Own Pumpkins! Free Weekend Hayrides APPLES, MUMS, PUMPKINS, SQUASH, Corn Kernel Sandbox HOMEMADE PIES, CIDER DONUTS... Tractors on Display for Photo Ops! — All the fall fixins! — Decorations, Gifts, Carving Supplies Homegrown & Local Produce Bakery • Jane’s Homemade Ice Cream www.theapplebinfarmmarket.com Local Cider & RT 9W ULSTER PARK Our Delicious Cider Donuts! Hardy Mums & Asters OPEN 7 DAYS 9 - 6:30 339-7229 PICK YOUR Rte. 299W, New Paltz • 255-8050 CLOSED TUESDAYS U\H OWN APPLES Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 37

Right around this time, the American Catskill Park (established 1904) is one of Its legacy lives on in the former campers stage was dominated by a woman named the earliest experiments in conservation who were inspired to make their life’s work Maude Adams. She was the greatest ac- in the United States, wherein wild lands in folklore. Pete Seeger was a counselor tress of her time and rivaled Sarah Bern- coexist with private property within the there, and is the place that inspired his writ- hardt, 20 years her senior, in international blue line of the Catskill Park. It is an in- ing of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” celebrity. Visiting the Catskill High Peaks. teresting coincidence that Barrie’s mas- Thank you, Pete, for reclaiming the river. Ms. Adams was inspired to buy land and terpiece and Adams’s role in it came to The flowers are still here. build a home within Mrs. Wheeler’s com- epitomize the spirit of innocent wildness munity. The estate remains intact today. and childlike wonder at precisely the Exquisite onstage but purposely un- same time this enchanted forest came to remarkable-looking offstage, she had a be forever wild. Forever protected. For- keen intellect. She invented color film ever. photography at GE in Schenectady, and People come here when it’s decided that donated the technology to said company. their needs are very simple. The water is That, she said, was her greatest regret. clean. The air is pure. Life is good. She was the muse for Sir James Barrie, Camp Woodland near Phoenicia was a Est. 1945 and was the inspiration for Peter, in Peter summer camp that sought to help children Pick-Your-Own Pan. Despite her enormous success as the understand the democratic roots of their APPLES! & PUMPKINS! era’s “Perfect Woman,” she stated that country by exposing them to the traditions We still have Peaches, Plums & Pears! Peter was her favorite role, a role she had and tradition bearers of the Catskills. The Corn Maze on Weekend developed in the Catskill forest, drifting camp grew out of New Deal programs that Natural Unheated Honey through the shadowy glades, climbing provided work for artists. Fresh-Pressed, No-Preservative CIDER trees, skipping stones into creeks, and Under the direction of Norman Studer, Home-made cider donuts & baked goods riding her horse down the bridle paths. with the help of Herbert Haufrecht and Fresh Peanut & Almond Butters Norman Cazden, youngsters collected ...and VEGETABLES, POTATOES & FARM FRESH EGGS he Catskills are often referred folk songs and stories, learned traditional (845) 255-0999 Tto as America’s First Wilderness be- crafts, and documented the disappear- cause scholars trace the beginnings of ing traditions of the region’s people. The jlorchards.com Route 299 • 4 miles west of New Paltz the environmental conservation move- camp’s integrated population and celebra- Open July 1 - May 1 (OPEN ALL WINTER!)• Hours: 9 - 6 ment to this beautiful area. The history of tion of local tradition-bearers seemed New York State’s Catskill Forest Preserve subversive to some. With its director (established 1885) and 1100-square-mile under pressure, it closed in 1962. Apples and Our Own Cider at the Farm Market! Fall vegetables, ciders donuts, local honey, maple syrup and homemade ice cream featuring fall flavors Pick-Your-Own Apples & Pumpkins! Call for available varieties! ~ U-Pick Open Saturday & Sunday 10am–4:30pm ~ Pick Your Own Open Daily 9am–5:30pm Credit Cards Accepted 255-0693 • Rt. 208, New Paltz • www.dresselfarms.com APPLES, PEARS, PUMPKINS WEEKENDS ONLY Sept. 15 - Oct. 21 We Grow Fun JOY 9am - 4pm Old Fashioned Family Fun OPEN Columbus Day Daily 9am-5pm JOHNNY APPLESEED Popular Family Farm Over 25 Outdoor ActivitiesVOTED for All Ages CIDER FEST BEST FARM TO Oct. 13 & 14, 10am - 4pm U-Pick Apples...BRING Fresh THE Cider FAMILY Donuts • Hayrides • Cornmazes Prospect Hill Orchards U-PICK• Bouncy APPLES... Pillow FRESH • Gem CIDER Mining DONUTS Hurds Family Farm • Cow• HayridesTrain Rides • Cornmazes • Giant Slide 2187 State Rte. 32, Modena, 12548 73 Clarks Lane, Milton, NY 12547 • Bouncy• Pedal Pillow Karts •• Gem Animals Mining 845-883-7825 845-795-2383 • Cow Train Rides • Giant Slide • Pedal Karts Pumpkins • Animals • Pumpkins HurdsFamilyFarm.com www.prospecthillorchards.com 38 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. Stopping the monster Some molds are toxic and others ain’t, but all should be eradicated, if possible

By Jennifer Brizzi

his sneaky beast is one thing on which no two people seem to be able to agree. How T can you tell if your house has mold? Which strain is the worst? What do household molds do to the human body? Are they even “toxic” at all? If you have them, what should you do about them? Ugly and smelly they are, for sure. Not long ago, my young son smelled strongly of mold when I picked him up after he was hanging out in a friend’s basement a couple of times. With his allergies and mild asthma, I was concerned. Fortu- nately, the situation has since been fixed. The apartment downstairs from me has had black mold for years (or so I’ve been told by other tenants in the building — I’m not a professional mold identifier). That apartment has had many renovations Mold on the ceiling of a house. between tenants. various locations in my bathroom, which with this seemingly interminable damp A lot of drywall has been replaced has no window or fan for ventilation. For weather we’ve been having in the past directly below my office/bedroom. The that, all I can do is keep spraying with an few months. It seems we just can’t get wall behind the under-sink cabinet in anti-mold and mildew product, which rid of it. Some of us have been weaken- my kitchen, where I spend several hours erases it temporarily. ing under the strain. Because so little daily cooking and washing dishes, has Or I could move. is definitively known about the danger a pesky, stubborn patch of mold. So do Molds of all types have has been thriving to our health from molds, it’s become a

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The business of media is changing, but local, on-the-ground, fact-checked journalism is needed now more than ever. We believe it’s important for the entire community, regardless of economic position, to have access to the local news that impacts their lives most. That’s why we don’t place our online content behind a paywall. But good, local journalism costs money to produce. That’s where you come in. We’re asking our online readers: If you value what we do, please consider making a contribution at hudsonvalleyone.com/support. Your help will ensure independent, locally owned journalism will continue to thrive in your community. UlstU er UP Publublishiishissh ng hvh 1 Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 39 subject where extreme opinions seem to have hatched. And who can definitely say UPTOWN KINGSTON’S they are wrong? One blogger, at charliessong.wordpress. com, blames mold for the stillbirth of her CONSIGNMENT SHOP son Charlie and three miscarriages, as well as her own continuous severe health problems, including a cancer diagnosis. & ANTIQUE CENTER She said she consulted “a mold doctor” and moved her family to a new house within 24 hours of learning her home had toxic mold. She wasn’t taking any chances. However, the Centers for Disease Control maintains that “at present there is no test that proves an association between Stachybotrys chartarum (Stachy- botrys atra) and particular health symptoms. Individuals with persistent symptoms should see their physician. However, if Stachybotrys chartarum (Stachybotrys atra) or other molds are found in a building, prudent practice recommends that they be removed.” “We knew there was potential that if we moved our things into a new home,” the blogger continued. “The microscopic mycotoxins that mold creates would cross- contaminate any new place. It was like moving…with lice. Every single thing we moved had to be wiped down with Clorox wipes, and every single piece of clothing had to be washed in ammonia twice before moving. And we moved knowing that 7KH+XGVRQ9DOOH\’V2ULJLQDO we still may not get to keep any of our $ZDUG:LQQLQJ0H[LFDQ5HVWDXUDQW things…Our doctor assured us that the only way I will improve is to literally elimi- $OO1DWXUDO$EVROXWHO\)UHVK0H[LFDQ nate all of our porous material possessions because those contaminated possessions (DW,QRU7DNH2XW cannot be sufficiently cleaned and will Kingston

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INAUGURAL SEASON

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THE HUNTS ANDREW SCHNEIDER* INDIE-ALTERNATIVE-FOLK MUSIC NERVOUS/SYSTEM OCTOBER 6 NOVEMBER 3 - 4 JON BOWERMASTER presents THE DAY HUDSON RIVER STORIES PERFORMED BY WENDY WHELAN AND MAYA BEISER CHOREOGRAPHY BY LUCINDA CHILDS A screening of films on the Hudson River. MUSIC BY DAVID LANG OCTOBER 7 DECEMBER 7 - 8 KIMBERLY BARTOSIK/DAELA* ZVIDANCE I HUNGER FOR YOU LIKE OCTOBER 12- 13 and MAIM (new work) JANUARY 26 - 27 * Next stop: BAM. See them here first! TICKETS AND INFO: LUMBERYARD.ORG All performances at LUMBERYARD. 855.4LYD.TIX 62 WATER ST, CATSKILL. 42 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. risk for infection from molds.” carpet, upholstery or any other porous aged to grow prolifically in high humidity surfaces like paper, cardboard or wood. or in moist places like near leaks (pipe or How do you fi nd them? They get in ceiling) or af- How do you uncover molds that may the house in the ter flooding. lurk in your home or potential home? first place when To figure out The 100,000 species of molds (only some spores cling to The CDC concedes if you have produce mycotoxins) can be visible as our clothes, mold or not, black, brown, gray, greenish or whitish, shoes and even mold is associated with first look at creepy-looking splotches, clusters or pets. Although certain health problems. potentially threads. Black molds aren’t necessarily “There is always damp areas toxic, and toxic molds can come in other a little mold like under colors besides black. Often molds are everywhere,” sinks for obvi- not visible to the naked eye and can lurk notes the CDC, ous signs of it. behind drywall, wallpaper, insulation, aggressive household molds are encour- Inspect walls for suspicious discoloration, stains and spots. Mold has a distinctive, Music, entertainment, festivals icky, musty smell. Do the sniff test in every room. Also, if you have allergic symptoms like itchy red eyes, nasal congestion or sneezing that bother you only when you are at home but not elsewhere, or if your asthma gets worse, those are potential signs. The CDC advises against testing for particular molds, either as a home test (generally considered unreliable) or by professionals (very pricey), because doing so doesn’t determine health risks, and any type should be removed if it’s causing health problems. 2018 New York Sheep & Wool Festival

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How do you get rid of mold? tion Agency (EPA)’s guide Mold First, fix any moisture problems. Remediation in Schools and Repair any leaks and dry out any Commercial Buildings if the moist areas, because if not, the moldy area is over ten square mold will just come back that feet. much faster. Although local mold inspectors Next, if it’s a small visible area and removers didn’t respond to on a hard surface, you can clean my requests for contact for this it with commercial mold removal article, I think it’s a good idea products or a bleach solution of to get professionals in for mold one part bleach to 15 parts water. detection and removal. They Mixing bleach with ammonia will have equipment like moisture create toxic fumes. The EPA rec- meters and fiber optics that most ommends using detergent rather of us don’t have in our toolboxes. than bleach. They can detect and eradicate There must be good ventilation, mold patches you might miss. i.e. windows open, with fans to And I’d suggest more than one redirect the spores outside. Wear bid. Scams are out there. non-porous gloves, safety glasses As much as bloggers, home- and a face mask (N-95 or equiva- owners, restoration companies lent per the EPA). Any sponges or and federal health agencies may rags you use must be disposed of disagree on the toxicity of mold, immediately in a sealed bag. Mold all conclude that the monster in or on carpeting, insulation and should be dealt with. No matter drywall or other wall boards means the type of mold or if it seems those items must be replaced. to be affecting anyone in the Scrubbing won’t do it. household or not, we are better The CDC recommends you look off eradicating it — if we can. up the U.S. Environmental Protec- UNIS N Presenting the Premiere Season of The Woodstock Symphony Orchestra, formerly the Woodstock Chamber Orchestra ARTS CENTER & SCULPTURE GARDEN With Music Director, Jonathan Handman Affordable world-class cultural experiences in an intimate setting. Saturday, November 10th at 7:30pm “In Nature” at The Woodstock Playhouse VISIT US AT WWW.UNISONARTS.ORG Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna, Von Suppe for amazing music performances, great local In the Steppes of Central Asia, Borodin The Moldau, Smetana • Pastoral Symphony, no. 6, Beethoven theater, art gallery with monthly shows, Saturday, January 19th, 2019 at 7:30pm a beautiful 1-acre sculpture garden, at The Woodstock Playhouse and arts classes & workshops for adults & kids featuring the “Woodstock and Beyond Concerto Competition Winner” Also on the program will be the Symphony no. 2 by Jean Sibelius FALL HIGHLIGHTS: Saturday, March 9th, 2019 at 7:30pm OCT 12: TONY TRISCHKA “Friendship” Olin Hall of Bard College OCT 27: DRACULA THEATER PERFORMANCE Featuring TWSO’s own Allison Rubin, Oboe Concerto in C major by Haydn Also on the program, Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar, and more. NOV 2: VASSAR DEVILS A CAPPELLA Saturday, April 27th at 7:30pm DEC 1 & 2: CRAFT ART & DESIGN FAIR at Quimby Theater of SUNY Ulster ...and so so so so much more! & Sunday, April 28th, 2019 at 3:00pm Arlington High School, Lagrangeville “Late Romantic Masterworks” 68 Mountain Rest Rd. New Paltz, NY • (845) 255-1559 The Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major with soloist Janet Sung 44 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. Doctor Gregg We know the doc, but he’s not taking on new patients

By Susan Barnett Gregg Kujawski, FNP-BC, it turns out, deed look remarkably like Martin Short worked in an emergency room in a Long popped his head out of a door and said, y partner KB and I Island hospital before moving to the “What’d ya do?” tend to get friendly with country. He has stories. He tells them in I followed Gregg into an exam room our doctors. We think a machine-gun-quick, clipped downstate and sat with my arm carefully held across Mit’s important to build a accent. my stomach. I told him the story, with personal relationship with a healthcare “I love doing this stuff,” he confided to KB full orchestration and five-part harmony. provider. as he numbed the area prior to going to “We call that a Foosh,” he said happily. Okay. That’s not it, really. The truth is, work with a scalpel. “I never get to do it.” “Fall On Outstretched Hand. I saw a lot it’s mainly because KB is accident-prone. Half an hour of minor surgery and two of them in the ER. You may have broken We see doctors a lot. So we get to know stitches later, Gregg gave it a 50-50 shot your hand, or your wrist, or your elbow, them pretty well, pretty quickly. We stick that a specialist would be in KB’s future. maybe even your shoulder. Or if you’re with the ones we like. But we suddenly felt just a bit safer. We lucky you didn’t break anything and it’s My guy broke his leg after a fall on the knew the local doc. just sore. We’ll get an X-ray. You can come ice in a gallant effort to fulfill my wish back and we’ll figure out what’s next, or for an Oreo cookie on a winter night. He didn’t expect to meet Gregg any you can have them take care of it there.” poked himself in the eye with a surpris- I time soon. I wasn’t counting on my I explained my insurance covers barely ingly sharp ornamental grass. He’s thrown dog, whose name is Violet Wiggins, anything worth discussing. He told me the his back out building a stone sidewalk. meeting the neighboring cows. cheapest answer was to go get the X-ray, Rolled a car in a snowstorm (no injuries We were out for a walk, and both the and then come back to him. that time but the car didn’t do so well), dog and I were admiring the cows. Mrs. “We try to work with people,” he as- tore his meniscus (that’s in the knee) Wiggins sat down, the better to admire sured me. “Nobody can afford to get sick twice, and nearly removed a finger in a them. I kept walking, and fell right over any more!” box-cutter incident. her in the middle of the road, breaking my It was a frightening thing for him to fall with an outstretched hand and landing e drove to Oneonta, where the leave his doctors behind when we moved. on one knee. She scampered out of the Wnearest hospital can be found. And it was soon frightening for me, too. way with her usual worried expression. The first X-ray came back negative. No We both needed a local doctor almost The cows were mildly surprised. breaks. as soon as we moved into our new house. I stood up before an oncoming dairy Gregg was surprised but happy I’d been I’ll spare you the details but for KB, they truck could flatten us and I assessed the so lucky. He advised a sling, a brace, involved a snow reflector and shards of damage. The knee had some gravel in it, anti-inflammatories, and to check back plastic in his thumb. He had been try- but seemed to be okay. The arm, not so with him. ing to get the splinters out himself for a much. Everything seemed to be in the right The next day, a beat-up gray Jeep pulled couple of weeks, and the pain had become place, but I tried it out and everything into the driveway. It was Gregg. impossible to ignore. hurt. A lot. “I was out and wondered how you’re We’d seen a sign for a local health clinic I remember thinking, This isn’t going doing,” he told me. “I figured I’d check.” just around the corner from our house. to be good. I decided I was a fan of our local doc. We called. I walked home with my arm in the air, After four weeks, a period of time that “He’s not taking new patients,” the re- as though I were begging to be called on Gregg thought should be sufficient for ceptionist said. “But what do you need?” by some unseen teacher. It felt better than me to feel better, I didn’t feel better at KB explained what had happened, and letting it hang. all. Remember, please, that I am not his before the day was out he was in the office KB carefully helped me clean up the patient. He’s not taking new patients. But of Gregg Kujawski, nurse-practitioner and scrapes. “I’m fine,” I insisted. who else was I going to call? I called him. the only local healthcare provider in our Within a couple of hours, it was clear I He ordered another X-ray. little one-horse town. wasn’t fine at all. We called Gregg. This time they found the break. It was my I wasn’t home. So I heard all about this “He’s not taking new patients,” the re- elbow. Fortunately, it was healing nicely. after the fact. ceptionist reminded us. “But come on in.” Gregg wanted another opinion. His “He’s great,” KB told me. “Not what I I found myself in the waiting room of a staff, most of whom I believe are family expected at all. Picture Martin Short with small modular building on the top of a hill. members, spent a frantic day on the phone a Long Island accent.” A bright-eyed, wiry fellow who did in- trying to find an orthopedist who would fit Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 45

a lot more cocaine and meth. Gregg’s not seeing it. “The prescription-meds-abuse thing seems to have peaked, thanks to tougher state regulations. But I’m still seeing mostly heroin here.” It’s cheap, he says. “Cheaper than a six-pack of beer.” The biggest challenge for treating addiction, according to Gregg, is the inability to answer the demand for help with quitting. There is, he has seen, a lack of access and a lack of resources. “Once you get off the stuff, there’s really no place to go to help you stay sober. The one private-practice counselor I know? I just swamp her with referrals.” The same lack of resources affects his other patients as well. “The wait is just unbelievable for specialists around here. I take everybody. I don’t turn anybody away. But they sometimes have to wait a really long time for the next step.” The system, he says, is fragile. That leaves him being more reactive that proactive. But he’s all we’ve got. And he knows it. Helping is what seems to motivate him. Helping is what made him take in two Gregg Kujawski, nurse-practitioner new patients, even though he’s got no room for more. me in. They called as far as Binghamton. I steady stream of people in and out of his ended up seeing a fancy doctor at Bassett office, and few stopped at the window to regg, like most people in this Hospital in Cooperstown. pay. Those who could, he later said, did. Garea, isn’t getting rich. He is, more If you’ve ever wondered what a hospital “I get paid a lot of zucchini and eggs and than likely, just getting by. “You do what for people with more money than you is chicken,” Gregg said and shrugged. “What you love, it doesn’t necessarily pay,” he like, I’m guessing it’s like Bassett. It is basi- are you gonna do? People pay what they said on my last follow-up. “But can you cally a lovely big building in the middle of can. When we opened this practice, we imagine me working in some office?” an arboretum. I felt like I should be wear- figured if my wife and sister-in-law and I can’t. And it’s lucky for us that he ing a cocktail dress. Inside was nice, too. a family friend handled the paperwork doesn’t. Because he chose to treat patients “Looks good,” Fancy Doctor said, upon we could keep our overhead down.” He in a poor, rural area, we got a professional examining the new X-rays. “I don’t think laughed. “It sounded like a good idea who cares. I saw it when he dealt with there’s a need for a cast. Just don’t push when we started.” us. And I saw it after my neighbor died it for another couple of weeks.” He does a lot of work with addiction, suddenly in his home. Gregg called that afternoon. particularly addictions to painkillers. He “I got there right after they called me, all “No cast? What if you fall?” he asked. is a licensed provider of medical mari- ready to do my thing,” Gregg said. “But he He didn’t sound happy. juana, which, in New York, is legal for a was gone. He must have died in his sleep. “I won’t fall,” I promised. very limited but expanding set of medical And I’d just seen him the day before. I issues. He said he specializes in working couldn’t believe it.” regg has since driven by twice with chronic pain, and the people who He shook his head. “He was a good guy. Gwhile I’ve been out walking the dog. become addicted to pain meds. That as- A real character.” He always stops and chats. “I should just pect of the practice is registered as Catskill It’s a small community here in Delaware go to Walmart and make you a cast,” he Cannabis Solutions. County. People are connected, no matter said the first time, eyeing my arm dubi- “I’ve seen it help,” he told me. “It helps whether they’ve spoken in years or spoken ously. with pain. It doesn’t really get you high, just hours before. “How’s it doing?” he asked the second but it helps with pain — nerve pain, Gregg, like the old country doctor from time. I told him it was better. It is. Sort of. chronic pain. And it helps with the with- the horse-and-buggy days, is connected My last followup with Gregg gave us a drawal off the other stuff.” to us all. chance to chat. I wasn’t in severe pain, Law enforcement and social-services But he’s still not my primary-care physi- and he had time. I’d already figured out advocates say they’re seeing a lot less cian. He’s not taking new patients. he is a lifeline for this community. I saw a heroin and prescription-meds abuse, and 46 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. We redo the kitchen But we’re befuddled by the many choices available

By Dan Barton

one is the summer of our massive kitchen and dining room renovation. We are G celebrating glorious autumn with a brand-new kitchen and dining room. Until about four and a half years ago I had lived in rental property for all my adult (i.e., after I moved out of my parents’ house) life. When you rent, you get what you get for kitchen space, and since I lived in some of the very last affordable housing in northern Dutchess County, what I got was not a lot. But you adapt, work within Emptying the cabinets pre-demolition can be one of the most daunting your limits, and sometimes chop your tasks in kitchen renovation. veggies in the living room. Survivable, sure, but there were always the fantasies of infinite counter space, Star Trek-style appliances and cabinets of the finest and rarest woods. These were the visions that swirled around in my head while I was cooking up something on a stove that I am pretty sure dated back to the Kennedy administration. So, when the time came for my wife and me to redo the kitchen, it was exciting and a little terrifying (for me, anyway) to be confronted with a total blank canvas upon which to paint our dreams. My time

There just aren’t enough countertops to choose from. Rosendale

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Renovated 1863 Farm House on the Plattekill Creek - 2 large original Highland’s Real Estate barns with hand hewn timbers + 3 outbuildings on 20 picturesque acres. Matchmaker! Perfect for B&B, Wedding Venue, Retreat, 81 Vineyard Avenue, Family Compound - the list is endless. Highland, NY 12528 Presented by: Elizabeth “Dolly” Decker, Broker, SRES The 4 Seasons Realty Group Phone: 845-691-2126 (518) 468-0411 • [email protected] [email protected] For more info & pics: https://clearbrookfarmny.com 48 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. metallic rod things that were apparently a conversation piece. vanish as completely as Amelia Earhart used as weights for curtains. All useful One might expect this paragraph to or Judge Crater for a month-plus, then in their day, I suppose, but the gold coins be the one about what a nightmare the show up again. That didn’t happen. Our would have been much more useful to contractors were. They would show up, contractor came from the other side of help pay for it all, and the skull useful as do some stuff for three or four days, then New York (the part near Buffalo, where the wings are) for the express purpose of doing our job. I love to support local, but in this case the exception made a huge difference. The focus was relentless, even in the face of three or four heat waves and the wettest August in the history of rain. Demolition began the third week of July “In our home, you are on your own but never alone.” and the whole thing was done and ready NYS Dept. of Health Licensed Adult Care Home ———————— to go by the second week of September. Full Medical Coordination That’s pretty good, I think, especially Unmatched Recreational Activities since I hear some stories about kitchen jobs still ongoing that got started in the — Featuring — Eisenhower administration. Interactive Music & Dance Class Another way that not shopping local Therapeutic Music Circles paid off for us was with the cabinets. We Senior Yoga • Tai Chi heart New York, sure, and in general we Strength & Balance Class Voted Best Assisted Living don’t kvetch about the taxes that much. in the Hudson Valley After all, a state government as helpful, Owned & operated locally by the DePoala & McNaughton Families Nestled on nine acres 845.331.1254 in a country setting at mountainvalleymanor.com 397 Wilbur Avenue, Kingston, NY All-Inclusive Living Schedule a Tour and All for No Fees, No Deposits, No Worries Stay for Lunch

FESTIVALS AT BETHEL WOODS one.

Time spent together is time well spent. You’reYou’re iinn ththee CaCatskills.tskills YYou’reou’re in tthehe mmoment.oment YYou’reouu’re ata BethelBeBe hel Woods. Hudson Valley One is the website Plan your next visit at BethelWoodsCenter.org for Almanac Weekly, as well as Oct 6 Oct 13 Dec 1-2 the entire Ulster Publishing family. Wine Festival Craft: Beer, Spirits Holiday Market 4HEREűYOUűCANűůNDűALLűTHEűCONTENTű 21+ we used to post to the Almanac On Stage: & Food Festival Free 21+ website (go straight to “Browse Parsonsfield On Stage: Spin Doctors by paper” in the top navigation and special guest and special guest Shlomo Franklin Black Tie Stereo bar if that’s all you want to see). In addition, you can also read news and culture from our other papers and special sections, as well as web-only content. Check it out at: hudsonvalleyone.com Bethel Woods Center for the Arts is a 501(c)3 nonprofit cultural organization that inspires, educates, and empowers individuals through the arts and humanities. Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 49 efficient and morally upright as our own coming after the swelter when it’s all about all this is that we finally get to deploy a lot needs money for all the Excelsior. But a keeping things cool, bring sublime joy to of the kitchen stuff we got when we got quick hop across the border to the People’s pretty simple stuff like making a pot of married in 2014. There’s a waffle iron that’s Republic of Bernie-stan saved us big in hot coffee or oatmeal. been seriously underused and a blender sales tax. (How a state as allegedly social- Or chili, which was the first major thing that’s still in the box, for Christ’s sake.) ist as Vermont survives without slapping that got cooked in the kitchen. Everybody Next thing I think is going to be some eight-plus percent on most transactions has their own take on the best chili. I like to macaroni and cheese, and in about three is, frankly, baffling. Next thing you’ll use stew beef instead of ground, Penzey’s days from this writing three bananas will tell me is that half their legislative and powder all the way and baked in the Le be overripe enough for banana bread. I gubernatorial leaders actually don’t get Creuset Dutch oven rather than bubbled don’t know if we’re doing Thanksgiving convicted of bribery. What?) in a pot on the stovetop. (Another plus of here yet — we don’t have the dining-room

o, as the autumnal equinox offi- Scially brought fall to our valley, we Health had a new kitchen. Clean, richly outlet- ted and LED-lit to the nines, with some Edison bulbs for mood. Both we and our cats reacted to the undiscovered country in a similar fashion — walking around, smelling things, figuring out, trial and error, how to best use our new space and our new stuff. This process is ongoing, but I’m glad it happened in this season. There are probably seasons in other places as good as autumn in the Hudson Valley, but I refuse to believe there are seasons anywhere better than autumn in the Hudson Valley. The delightfully chillier temperatures,

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1636 Ulster Avenue Lake Katrine 845.336.6310 visionexceleyecare.com 50 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley y Ulster Publishing Co. The closer the Gym, the more you’ll go!!! table thing nailed down and it is just so much easier to go out and let other Nautilus • Cardio • Free Weights • Stretching & More people handle it. I do want to do a dry- run turkey-with-trimmings dinner some time this month, though. Maybe pick a game the Giants might actually win so as to give thanks for the Giants actually winning a game? Colder weather and earlier sunsets drive the action inside this time of year. Very few of us are perfectly happy with WE our living spaces — we still have a lot 28 ST to work on in ours. I know many people Classes who, like those bacteria what dwell by GYM thermal vents at the bottom of the ocean, .COM Included really love the hot weather and mourn its Woodstock passing. I neither am looking forward to being snowed upon, scraping ice off the car, and days with temperatures so low that I refer to them as “booger-freezing weather.” But what’s best, maybe, about fall is how it intensifies coziness and its related delights. And with our new kitchen as the epicenter, this is going to be our SunKissed Tanning most intensely cozy autumn yet.

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By Erin Quinn

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” — Albert Camus

here is nothing quite like the smell of mist rising and leaves falling and breezes be- Ting swept up to carry with it a scent of pine, like a promise, and curl- ing leaves retreating in their sad decay. But as the sun shines on these autumnal days with the mountains drenched in color, trees line footpaths like a runway attempting to outdo another in their garish foliage display. It’s one of the greatest shows on earth and it’s playing all day, every day, right here in the Hud- son Valley. Here are four of my favorite New Paltz area hiking highlights. West-of-Wallkill with Mohonk Tower seen in the background. Under Cliff /Over/Over CliffCliff Loop: Loop: This five-mile carriage road loop con- of the hustle and bustle of rock climbers below. When the views close up on either structed by hand in 1903 has become an yelling “traverse,” “belay,” “take,” “rappel” side, the path envelops its visitor in a iconic Hudson Valley hike in all seasons, or even “dyno!” There are mats and chalk canopy of foliage that is like a companion, but most impressionably in the fall. Part dust and the clinking made by racks of winding along quietly with you, not too of the Mohonk Preserve, this loop is easily metal objects used to help humans defy bold and not too boring. Gentle. accessible by parking in the West Trapps gravity and shimmy up hundred-foot rock The slope has a slight downward trajec- trailhead parking lot, just a half mile faces. It’s a colorful, lively, subculture tory. Just when it feels like you are deep passed the hairpin turn on Route 44/55 that one can pass through and observe into the woods there emerges a stunning in Gardiner on the left. From there hikers, without having to leave the safety of the view of the Mohonk Tower, standing up climbers, cyclists and simple sauntering carriage road. regally on an opposing cliff. folks climb up a fairly steep hill until What feels like a juggernaut in the After approximately 2.5 miles, there is they arrive at the beginning of the loop, beginning with ropes and harnesses and a four-way intersection (any direction a marked by a larger-than-life talus boulder bandana-clad dogs tied to trees soon thins fine choice) but for this story’s purpose that often has people hanging from it in out. The carriage road becomes quieter, one would just stay the course, bearing precarious Spiderman-like poses. There the cliffs receding not in importance but left towards a clearly marked sign that has always been a heated debate by run- in greater isolation. The more experienced reads “Overcliff Road.” This will take ners as to which way is “faster.” Starting climbers tend to venture there, engineer- fall-loving visitors to the backside of this left on Overlook or right onto Undercliff. ing their ascents just out-of-view. That’s section of the Shawangunk Ridge where I suppose it’s all in the perspective of the okay because one suddenly stops craning the foliage views in contrast with the white runner — end on a slight downhill or on their neck upwards towards the cliffs and conglomerate rocks and the outlines of a slight uphill? Which do you prefer? instead peers over their right shoulder the Catskill Mountains in the not-so-far I’m a big fan of starting towards the towards the sprawling vistas that open up, distance will make one feel like they’ve right, where one is quickly in the midst showcasing the valley rife with farmlands just entered into a painting that they 52 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. don’t want ever to escape. This side of the loop is quiet, breathtaking at points and in the end leads you right back to where you started. Bonticou Crag at the Mohonk Preserve There are views and there are views. Bonticou Crag provides one of the most stunning views in all of the Hudson Valley, accessible by a challenging rock- scramble or by winding up the backside on less precarious trail. Once atop of the mountain of white boulders one can see the foliage gracing the valleys below the contrast of the white against burnt orange and crimson red, making the richness of color that much more dramatic. The approximately three-mile hike begins at the Spring Farm trailhead, just past the entrance to the Mohonk Mountain House off of Mountain Rest Road in Alligerville. The path begins in a series of meadows with sweeping views of the Catskills and then traverses through some grassy knolls and into the woods where the canopy of ever-turning leaves provides some brush- stroked shade. The hike eventually takes one to the base of Bonticou Crag, which takes some delicate foot maneuvering and agile leaps to hope and climb from boulder to boulder as one makes the ascent. Once on top there is a feeling of exposure that is invigorating with 360-degree views of the surrounding countryside that includes the Wallkill Valley and River, the Catskills, The Trapps and places beyond the periphery of vision. It is a delight and the perfect spot to soak in the fleeting moments of fall. Have a picnic, do a handstand (not too close to the edge), or simply admire being that close to the sky. River-to-Ridge (r2r) in New Paltz A newly opened trail allows visitors to New Paltz to access so much of the agri- cultural bounty and autumnal beauty of the area without having to pay a dime, purchase a pass, point to a sticker or flash a bar code on an outdoor app. The trail begins on the Carmine Liberta Bridge Overlook Carriage Road, early fall. across the Wallkill River just across from the Gilded Otter Restaurant, and then winds along the river, into the Wallkill Val- is wide and smooth enough for a family of with the slightest breeze, the lush sound of ley Farm cornfields, into green pastures cyclists to enjoy it, walkers of all ages and the North-flowing Wallkill off to the right and up over the Mohonk Preserve foothills abilities as well as runners, dog-walkers and of course the mountains alive with fall that provide breathtaking views of the and myriad painters and photographers foliage pressing its color against the sky. Shawangunk Ridge, the Mohonk Tower who are in the midst of an autumn cor- It is approximately 4.5 miles round and the farmland that buttresses the nucopia with swelling pumpkins, golden trip but adventurous souls can take the mountain. Although not paved, this trail tasseled cornstalks bowing and preening r2r right to Pine Road where they can Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 53

the geological phenomenon of Patterson’s Pellet, offers sweeping fall vistas of trees just raging with color along Hamilton Carriage Road across the ravine, all the way to Gertrude’s Nose. It’s an eight-mile round trip which leaves one feeling as though they’re stepping towards the edge of the world, or at least the edge of the Hudson Valley. The scope and height and explosion of color a visceral experience that lasts with one much longer than the hike. For this is fall in the Hudson Valley. Put on your shoes, hop on your bike. If that’s too daunting, take a drive over Route 44/55 and park at some of the scenic pullouts. Soak in the ephemeral, fleeting autumnal beauty. There are endless of miles of old carriage roads and footpaths and repurposed rail-trails to explore in the Hudson Valley. These are only a few highlights. For more information on the Mohonk Preserve go to www.mohonk- preserve.org For Minnewaska Minnewaska. State Park go to https://parks. ny.gov/parks For the Wallkill continue their quest onto Duck Pond, and clockwise and there will be nothing but Valley Rail-Trail www.wvrta.org and for Preserve trails and carriage roads. For this light dancing on water, foliage streaking the River to Ridge (r2r) go to www.opens- trail there is ample parking off Huguenot across the sky, the smell of pine needles paceinstitute.org Street by the water treatment plant or in crushed underfoot and damp leaves. At various municipal spots downtown for the opposite end of the lake from the visitors. Those living in the village can parking lot there is a trail that leads hik- simply walk to the trail and those who ers or cyclists to one of the more stunning are coming from Highland, Rosendale autumnal passages — to Patterson’s Pellet E pluribus or Gardiner, if up for the challenge, can and Gertrude’s Nose. get there via the Wallkill Valley and the There’s nothing quite like a large boulder unum Hudson Valley rail -trails. that looks as if it’s been dropped from the Patterson’s Pellet at Minnewaska State sky like a meteor only to land perilously Park close to the edge of a cliff. Local geologists There’s no way to really go wrong when refer to this as a “glacial erratic,” rocks NP WT KT you enter the gates of Minnewaska State that were picked up by the glaciers during Park. This 23,000-acre park is home to the last ice age. When the glaciers melted AW two sky-lakes, several waterfalls, ponds, 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in the Hudson hv1 s cliffs, peregrine falcon nesting sides, wild Valley, the rocks entrained within the ice blueberry and huckleberry bushes as well simply dropped out. Some, like North as a unique dwarf pine ecosystem at its Salem Balanced Rock and Patterson’s Hudson Valley One is the one-stop shop for content from all Ulster Publishing newspapers, higher altitudes and more exposed peaks. Pellet, dropped out in ways that almost including New Paltz Times, Woodstock Times, So where to start for a fall hike? Let’s have a science-fiction feel to them. But this Kingston Times, Saugerties Times and start at the very beginning. If there is path, besides having brushed alongside Almanac Weekly. room, park in the upper lot and take the the magical Minnewaska sky lake and Check it out at hudsonvalleyone.com. lakeside path either clockwise or counter- taken the Millbrook Carriage Road to 54 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co. A part-time rental Coming to terms with Airbnb

By Violet Snow

enting your house out on Airbnb is no picnic. Yes, it’s great to have the extra cash, R but not all your guests will have the same standards of cleanliness and home furnishing that you might have. Getting negative reviews on the Airbnb website can be devastating. Luckily, the feedback gives me the chance to make improvements, diminish- ing the chances of a future bad review. Airbnb even offers the option of private feedback, if a kindly guest wants to make a suggestion without a public flaying that might repel prospective customers. My husband and I have made many changes, often ones we did not expect, to satisfy our guests. for us was getting a microwave. We’re gested investing in more robust technol- First, I must mention that we rent out purists, averse to spooky electronics ogy I went out and got a twelve-cup coffee the house in which we live. It’s not a sepa- messing with our food, but after the sec- maker, assuming serious coffee drinkers rate cottage or an extra home. If you are ond time someone wistfully mentioned were likely to want two cups each. considering buying a house just to make they missed having a microwave we I have become more attentive to sheets, money on short-term rentals, don’t do it. broke down and got one. It was free, an towels and blankets, to the extent of Locals are struggling to find affordable extra that my cousin was getting rid of. haunting the bedding section of Formerly long-term rentals, due to people sucking We did pay $20 for a little wooden table Yours, the thrift shop at the Phoenicia up properties for services such as Airbnb to put it on, tucked away in a corner of Methodist Church. Someone observed and HomeAway. However, part-time the kitchen. I even nuke my own food that our blankets looked old, so I bought rental of a home, or a room in your house, once in a while. younger ones whenever the right kind brings tourist money into the economy by The coffee maker was another conces- came along. I even brought home a preten- offering convenient housing for visitors. sion. We don’t drink coffee, but we already tious Baroque-style bedspread that I never I’ve used Airbnb a lot on my own travels. had a one-cup drip filter for when our would’ve considered if not for the renters. I would not have been able to afford my daughter visits. However, the house ac- Once I sprang for a $25 set of sheets at trips if I’d had to stay in hotels. commodates up to seven people, and one the Dollar General on Route 28. Really, I know some of you hate short-term group was understandably troubled by the I did. rentals because the guests make noise coffee line. The minute they gently sug- and trespass and leave out garbage for the bears. I make sure my guests don’t do any of those things, except I did have a group Airbnb by the numbers of youngsters who made a bit of racket one night, according to my neighbor. But he rom Memorial Day to Labor Day this summer, Airbnb projected that its wasn’t complaining. After that I added to business in New York State increased to 1,200,000 guest arrivals, up from the house rules that people mustn’t make F933,000 arrivals in the summer of 2017. More than 187,000 New York City noise at night. residents used Airbnb to visit other parts of the state this summer. More than 39,000 New York hosts welcomed guests, up from 37,000 last summer, according to o what kinds of improvements Airbnb data. A quarter of hosts were first-timers. Shave we made? I’m not talking big Airbnb estimates that the typical host made approximately $4100 this summer, up investments here. We don’t have that from $3400 last summer. In total, New York Airbnb hosts grossed $296 million this kind of money. The most radical change summer as compared to $234 million last summer. Ulster Publishing Co. Explore Hudson Valley October - November, 2018 • 55

he most challenging aspect of mine on the website because it’s under my across the street, and the seven-minute Trental for us has been the cleaning. real name. You will be compensated by walk to town. Like most of our guests, When we moved out of our final apart- the mountain in the back yard, the creek you’ll have a grand time. ment before buying the house, our land- lady was horrified by how dirty the place was. Now we have to clean the rooms from top to bottom every time we rent out the house. It’s actually lovely to have a clean house. I had no idea! But again, our standards are not always the same as those of our guests. It took time and a few ambivalent reviews to get us to pay attention to such areas as the refrigerator shelves, for Early Childhood instance. (Actually, I am still in denial about the fridge. My husband dutifully through 8th Grade takes care of it. He’s also the one who re- OPEN HOUSE members to check for hanging cobwebs.) NOV. 17TH — 10 AM - 12 NOON I eventually learned to clean the tops of the books and the ceiling light fixture in School Tours the bedroom. Available By Appointment One family complained about dust under the bed. Well, duh, of course there’s dust under the bed. That’s where dust lives. 16 South Chestnut, New Paltz (845) 255-0033 • MountainLaurel.org What’s wrong with that? Okay, their kid dropped a toy, and while retrieving it, they witnessed the dust, and they worry about allergies. And I have to admit, Pablo Glass – when I pulled the bed away from the wall and found about a gallon of dust I was Glassblowing Studio grossed out. Is Now Open at Now I make sure to at least sweep around the edges of the stuff I have stored under there. We haven’t had another such com- plaint, thank goodness. Traumatized by people griping about dust, we commiserated with a fellow Airbnb host and ended up following his example. I put a disclaimer on the web- 1396 Route 28 | West Hurley, NY 12491 site: This house is our home, not a rental Friday-Sunday 11am – 6pm | Monday 10am – 4pm cottage. We clean for hours before our or by appointment (call 646.256.9688) guests arrive — using obsessively natural cleansers — but we are both writers, not hotelkeepers. If you are the finicky type, you might want to look for more upscale, pristine accommodations. The disclaimer seemed to help, although recently an English family was still ap- palled by our second-hand furniture and “mismatched crockery.” No one else seems to mind slightly shabby chairs, and I draw the line at buying a complete set of dishes. You are probably thinking by now that you are going to make sure you never rent Violet’s house. There’s dust under the bed, the crockery is mismatched, and she doesn’t even care. But I do care. I just have my limits. And Violet Snow is a pseudonym, so you won’t be able to tell which house is 56 • October - November, 2018 Explore Hudson Valley Ulster Publishing Co.

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