Catskill Mountain Region MAY 2021 COMPLIMENTARY GUIDE catskillregionguide.com Home & Garden Landscape Design Home Improvement Banking & Real Estate Nurseries & Floral Design May 2021 • GUIDE 1 2 • www.catskillregionguide.com May 2021 • GUIDE 3 4 • www.catskillregionguide.com www.catskillregionguide.com VOLUME 36, NUMBER 5 May 2021 PUBLISHERS Peter Finn, Chairman, Catskill Mountain Foundation Sarah Finn, President, Catskill Mountain Foundation On the cover: Photo courtesy of Greene Bee EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, Greenhouse, Ltd. For more CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION information about Greene Bee, Sarah Taft please see the article on page 28 ADVERTISING SALES Barbara Cobb Steve Friedman CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jeff Senterman, Sarah Taft, IN THIS ISSUE Margaret Donsbach Tomlinson & Robert Tomlinson ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE 6 WANDA’S VISIT: Christopher Durang’s classic one-act farce Candy McKee takes on new life in a production presented by the Catskill Justin McGowan & Hillary Morse Mountain Foundaiton PRINTING Catskill Mountain Printing Services 12 TODAY BUILDS TOMORROW: About Recycling… By Robert Tomlinson DISTRIBUTION Catskill Mountain Foundation 14 KERNS NURSERY EDITORIAL DEADLINE FOR NEXT ISSUE: May 10 16 SPECIAL SECTION: HOME & GARDEN 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 would like to have covered, please send them by e-mail to tafts@ 28 GREENE BEE GREENHOUSE, LTD.: Growing Responsibly catskillmtn.org. Please be sure to furnish a contact name and in- clude your address, telephone, fax, and e-mail information on all correspondence. For editorial and photo submission guidelines 29 A GREENE COUNTY GARDEN IN MAY send a request via e-mail to [email protected]. By Margaret Donsbach Tomlinson The liability of the publisher for any error for which it may be held legally responsible will not exceed the cost of space ordered or occupied by the error. The publisher assumes no liability for errors in key numbers. The publisher will not, in any event, be 30 GARDENS BY TRISTA liable for loss of income or profits or any consequent damages. The Catskill Mountain Region Guide office is located in Hunter Village Square in the Village of Hunter on Route 23A. 31 THE GREAT OUTDOORS IN THE CATSKILLS The magazine can be found on-line at www.catskillmtn.org By Jeff Senterman by clicking on the “Guide Magazine” button, or by going directly to www.catskillregionguide.com 7,000 copies of the Catskill Mountain Region Guide are 36 THE CATSKILLS ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS! distributed each month. It is distributed free of charge at the Plattekill, Sloatsburg and New Baltimore rest stops on the New York State Thruway, and at the tourist information offices, 49 THE HUDSON RIVER SCHOOL: Paintings from the restaurants, lodgings, retailers and other businesses throughout Greene, Delaware and Ulster counties. Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Home delivery of the Guide magazine is available, at an additional fee, to annual members of the Catskill Mountain Foundation at the $100 membership level or higher. 57 CROSS POLLINATION: Heade, Cole, Church and Our ©2000 Catskill Mountain Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part without Contemporary Moment, June 12 through October 31, 2021 written permission is prohibited. The Catskill Mountain Region Guide is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. All photo- graphic rights reside with the photographer. 60 CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION 2021 PERFORMING ARTS SEASON 61 2021 COURSES AT SUGAR MAPLES CENTER FOR CREATIVE ARTS THE CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION 7971 MAIN STREET, P.O. BOX 924 62 DONATE TO THE CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION HUNTER, NY 12442 PHONE: 518 263 2000 • FAX: 518 263 2025 WWW.CATSKILLMTN.ORG 64 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS May 2021 • GUIDE 5 Left to right: Dayna Kurtz (Wanda); John McCaffrey (narrator/waiter); Darcy Dunn (Marsha); Mark Singer (director, Jim) Wanda’s Visit Christopher Durang’s classic one-act farce takes on new life in a production presented by the Catskill Mountain Foundation n the mood for a laugh? Have you binge-watched everything Even though Wanda’s Visit was originally set in the 1990s, I Netflix and Hulu have to offer? We have a treat for you! Mark realized that the play was perfect for 2021, but needed to On Saturday, June 12 at 7:30 pm, the Catskill Mountain be updated a bit to reflect current realities. “What was particularly Foundation will live stream a pre-taped staged reading of the interesting about the play,” he says, “is that it’s about a visitor who hilarious one-act play, Wanda’s Visit by Christopher Durang. intrudes on the humdrum existence of a somewhat dissatisfied Starring Darcy Dunn, Dayna Kurtz, John McCaffrey, and Mark married couple. That seemed an interesting topic to explore during Singer (who also directed the production), the reading was filmed COVID when so many couples who are used to living together— by videographer David Katzive earlier this year at the Doctorow but not 100% of the time—suddenly found themselves together Center for the Arts in Hunter. This presentation will be shown on 24/7. I think moving the play’s action into our current environ- the Catskill Mountain Foundation’s YouTube and Facebook chan- ment and acknowledging the unique challenges of COVID made nels for FREE! for a more interesting production and a new, unusual take on what Originally presented on PBS, Wanda’s Visit tells the story of has been a frequently produced short play.” Jim (Mark Singer) and Marsha (Darcy Dunn), who have been married for 13 years. They seem comfortable in their suburban The Director Connecticut lives … a little bored and restless, perhaps, but Mark Singer is a singer, actor, and writer who has performed reasonably content. Each person has their role to play in the mar- extensively in opera, musicals, cabaret, and dramatic theater. riage, and they perform the roles well, day after day after day after He has appeared in many productions of the Catskill Mountain day … you get the picture. Attempts to shake things up a little Foundation, and created and appeared in its musical revue series bit fall flat: they tried to get drunk to celebrate their wedding an- the Mountaintop Celebration of Song. Mark has written several niversary, but just wound up falling asleep. So when Jim receives a plays with his friend (and co-star in Wanda’s Visit) John McCaf- letter from an old girlfriend, Wanda (Dayna Kurtz), announcing frey, including Books That Did Not Help Me Pick Up Women, she’s “up in their neck of the woods,” and wonders if she could and A Milonga for Gabriel Isaacs, and is currently developing All pop in for a visit, Jim leaps at the opportunity to relive his youth. Mankind Has Lost its Reason, his play about the Weimar period in Marsha is clearly unhappy about the visit, but nevertheless relents. Germany and the rise of fascism, which features the music of that Wanda becomes the guest from hell. When they decide to go out era. He is currently a Managing Partner at Finn Partners, a global to dinner, all hell breaks loose in the restaurant, witnessed by a Public Relations company. In this production, Mark also takes on waiter (John McCaffrey), just trying to get through his first day. the role of Jim. 6 • www.catskillregionguide.com CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FOUNDATION TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH THE ARTS THANK YOU TO OUR FUNDERS & SUPPORTERS! F O U N A M D H A D T I N O I N W Education, Recreation, Arts, and Community Initiatives Catskill Mountain Foundation is supported in part by New York State Council on the Arts, The Greene County Legislature through the Cultural Fund administered by CREATE Council for Resources to Enrich the Arts, Technology & Education (formerly The Greene County Council on the Arts), The Jarvis and Constance Doctorow Family Foundation, The Royce Family Foundation, The Samuel and Esther Doctorow Fund, The Orville and Ethel Slutzky Family Foundation, Platte Clove Bruder- hof Community, Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation, The Greene County Youth Bureau, Marshall & Sterling Insurance, All Souls’ Church, Stewarts Shops, Windham Foundation, and by private donations. 7971 Main Street, Village of Hunter 518 263 2001 • www.catskillmtn.org May 2021 • GUIDE 7 The Cast To bring this production to life, Mark called upon people he knows well and was certain would bring these characters to life. He knew John McCaffrey through a club in New York, where they bonded over playing basketball and their mutual love of writing. It was through John that Mark met Dayna. And, of course, he and Darcy have been married for many years. “It’s nice to work with friends,” says Mark. “We like to work with people we know and we’re comfortable with.” Darcy Dunn (Marsha) Darcy Dunn sings chamber opera, classical music and new works in NYC and is a founding member and featured performer of the Magic Circle Opera. She has performed leading roles with Chelsea Opera, Bronx Opera, Encompass Opera, Theater for the New City, and Downtown Music Productions, and has been a featured soloist at the Windham Chamber Music Festival. With her husband Mark Singer, Darcy was part of the first Catskill Mountain Foundation Dayna Kurtz as Wanda (left) and Darcy Dunn as Marsha live performance in 1998, and performed in and helped create CMF’s Mountaintop Celebration of Song, which included original She affords an opportunity to really stretch and go over the top.” musical productions A Little Bit in Love, Headliners and One-Liners, Dayna also resonated with the role of Wanda in a different Weill’d About You, They’re Playing Your Song, and Ain’t We Got Fun.