Catskill Mountain Region September 2016 GUIDEwww.catskillregionguide.com SINGER/SONGWRITER LEYLA MCCALLA PERFORMS WITH HER TRIO IN HUNTER THIS OCTOBER TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE www.catskillregionguide.com VOLUME 31, NUMBER 9 September 2016 PUBLISHERS Peter Finn, Chairman, Catskill Mountain Foundation Sarah Finn, President, Catskill Mountain Foundation EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION Sarah Taft ADVERTISING SALES Rita Adami, Barbara Cobb Steve Friedman, Albert Verdesca CONTRIBUTING WRITERS David Peskin, Heather Rolland, Jeff Senterman & Andrew Tully ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE Candy McKee Justin McGowan Peggy Thompson PRINTING Catskill Mountain Printing Services DISTRIBUTION On the cover: Singer/songwriter Leyla McCalla will appear with her trio on October 8 at the Catskill Mountain Foundation Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter. For more information about this performance, please see the article on page 2. EDITORIAL DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: September 6 The Catskill Mountain Region Guide is published 12 times a year by the Catskill Mountain Foundation, Inc., Main Street, PO Box 924, Hunter, NY 12442. If you have events or programs that you 2 THE ARTS would like to have covered, please send them by e-mail to tafts@ catskillmtn.org. Please be sure to furnish a contact name and in- clude your address, telephone, fax, and e-mail information on all GCCA ANNUAL GARDEN PARTY FUNDRAISER correspondence. For editorial and photo submission guidelines 4 send a request via e-mail to [email protected]. The liability of the publisher for any error for which it may be held legally responsible will not exceed the cost of space ordered 6 BE A PART OF HOLIDAY MAGIC: or occupied by the error. The publisher assumes no liability for errors in key numbers. The publisher will not, in any event, be Appear in a Fully-Staged Version of the liable for loss of income or profits or any consequent damages. The Catskill Mountain Region Guide office is located in Season’s Favorite Ballet, The Nutcracker! Hunter Village Square in the Village of Hunter on Route 23A. The magazine can be found on-line at www.catskillmtn.org by clicking on the “Guide Magazine” button, or by going directly 8 CATSKILL MOUNTAINS SCENIC BYWAY to www.catskillregionguide.com 7,000 copies of the Catskill Mountain Region Guide are distributed each month. It is distributed free of charge at the Plattekill, Sloatsburg and New Baltimore rest stops on the 10 THE FOURTH ANNUAL HUDSON VALLEY DANCE New York State Thruway, and at the tourist information offices, restaurants, lodgings, retailers and other businesses throughout FESTIVAL RETURNS TO CATSKILL THIS OCTOBER Greene, Delaware and Ulster counties. Home delivery of the Guide magazine is available, at an additional fee, to annual members of the Catskill Mountain 14 BOOK REVIEW: CHRISTMAS AT ROCKEFELLER CENTER Foundation at the $100 membership level or higher. ©2000 Catskill Mountain Foundation, Inc. BY KIRBY OLSON Review by Andrew Tully All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without written permission is prohibited. The Catskill Mountain Region Guide is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All photo- ENJOYING THE BEST OF AUTUMN IN ULSTER COUNTY graphic rights reside with the photographer. 16 18 THE GREAT OUTDOORS IN THE CATSKILLS By Jeff Senterman 24 HIKING TRAILS: BECOMING AN EDUCATED CONSUMER THE CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION By Heather Rolland 7971 MAIN STREET, P.O. BOX 924 HUNTER, NY 12442 PHONE: 518 263 2000 • FAX: 518 263 2025 SEPTEMBER AT THE CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION WWW.CATSKILLMTN.ORG 27 September 2016 • GUIDE 1 THE ARTS Leyla McCalla Trio Appears at the Doctorow Center for the Arts this October On Saturday, October 8 at 8:00 pm, the Catskill Mountain Foundation welcomes the Leyla McCalla Trio to the Doctorow Center for the Arts in Hunter. Leyla McCalla is a New York-born Haitian-American living in New Orleans, who sings in French, Haitian Creole and English, and plays cello, tenor banjo and guitar. Deeply influenced by traditional Creole, Cajun and Haitian music, as well as by American jazz and folk, her music is at once earthy, elegant, soulful and witty—it vibrates with three centuries of history, yet also feels strikingly fresh, distinctive and contemporary. Leyla’s debut album, Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute to Langston Hughes, was named 2013’s Album of the Year by the London Sunday Times and Songlines magazine, and received additional raves from a number of other publications, including The New York Times, Bos- ton Globe and Offbeat, for its haunting mixture of music and message. Now, having toured extensively in the U.S., Europe and Israel in support of Vari-Colored Songs, Leyla is focusing on her next album. Titled A Day For The Hunter, A Day For The Prey, the album was released in March of 2016 by Jazz Village/Harmonia Mundi. A Day For The Hunter, A Day For The Prey continues to explore the themes of social justice and pan-African consciousness that marked Vari-Colored Songs, and once again features songs sung in English, French and Haitian Creole. The album also includes guest ap- pearances by legendary guitarist Marc Ribot, Rhiannon Giddens of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Louis Michot of the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and New Orleans singer-songwriter/guitarist Sarah Quintana. NPR chose A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey as a featured recording on “Songs We Love,” raving “[i]t’s an exhilarating thing, hearing a musical virtuoso explore her voice’s unanticipated potential in all of the ways that Leyla McCalla does.” Tickets purchased ahead for this performance are $25; $20 seniors; $7 students. Tickets purchased at the door are $30; $25 seniors; $7 students. The Doctorow Center for the Arts is located at 7971 Main Street in the Village of Hunter. For more information and to purchase tickets please visit www.catskillmtn.org or call 518 263 2063. 2 • www.catskillregionguide.com September 2016 • GUIDE 3 GCCA Annual Garden Party Fundraiser Forty Years of Service to the Arts An aerial view of the festivities and scenic grounds surrounding the Beattie-Powers and Now Going Forward! Place during the 2014 GCCA Garden Party. The photo was taken by former Catskill Village President, Vince Seeley, with a drone. reene County Council on the Arts invites everyone to its along with local celebrities Frank Cuthbert and Jon B. Woodin … G Annual Garden Party fundraiser at the historic riverside plus a few more guest appearances. The Garden Party would not estate, Beattie-Powers Place, located in Catskill, NY on Satur- be a party without locally crafted beer and artisanal wine from the day, September 17, 2016 from noon to 4 pm. Join the GCCA Catskill Region and the Hudson Valley. Board of Directors and staff members as they host a late summer Bring the entire family! Children are welcome and will find afternoon gathering with fellow members and friends celebrat- fun with Art & Craft activities, plus a few hula-hoops, jump ing the past year commemorating GCCA’s 40th Anniversary Year ropes and kites to keep them entertained. Children under 10 are and going forward! Tickets are now available for $40 for GCCA admitted free. The lovely grounds surrounding the Beattie-Powers Members and $50 for Non-Members. Reservations may be made Place provide a sense of calm and wonder. The historic property in advance online at www.greenearts.org or by calling GCCA at overlooks the mighty Hudson River and Rip Van Winkle Bridge 518 943 3400. Tickets will also be available at the entrance gate and provides the perfect setting for an amazing mid-September at Beattie-Powers Place on the day of the Garden Party for an afternoon. extra $5. The GCCA Annual Garden Party is made possible through GCCA is celebrating the close of its 40th Anniversary Year the kindness of the Friends of Beattie-Powers Place and generous and what a remarkable year it was! Come September GCCA sponsorships provided by Big Top Tent Rentals and others. goes forward in its work for more years ahead with its service The weatherman predicts a glorious Saturday this September to the arts and culture in our community! Thanks to the ongo- 17, so please mark your calendar! Plan to join us for a terrific ing support from our devoted members and donors, GCCA will afternoon to benefit the GCCA programming and help continue continue its re-grant Programs, Youth Arts and Sprouts Programs, the support to the arts and culture in Greene County and the the Visual Arts Program and publishing Arts Alive, GCCA’s region in its 41st Year! bi-monthly newsletter showcasing the arts and culture in com- Greene County Council on the Arts looks forward to its 41st munities throughout Greene, Columbia and Schoharie Counties. year of service and spending more time with our members, friends GCCA serves these three counties with its NYSCA/Decentraliza- and donors. We hope to see you at the Garden Party! For Garden tion Community Arts Grant Program. Party reservations or more information, call 518 943 3400, e-mail Last October over 175 people attended GCCA’s 40th Anni- [email protected] or visit www.greenearts.org. versary Party and despite the rain, it was a wonderful day! Please mark your calendar for Saturday, September 17, 2016 … it will When? Saturday, September 17, 2016 from noon to 4 PM. be a busy day in Catskill and your support during these 40 years Where? Beattie Powers Place, located at the Bridge Street & will lead to more opportunities for people of all ages to engage in Prospect Avenue intersection in Catskill, NY. the arts in the future! Maggie Landis, Maggie’s Krooked Café proprietor and chef, After the Garden Party, plan to stroll over to ADI’s End of will prepare a late summer three-course buffet style luncheon Summer Shindig at the Lumberyard on Water Street from 5 menu crafted from a bounty of locally sourced foods.