Jeff Wilson performs Western dressage during the Taste of the Catskills Festival in Delhi on Saturday. Posted: Monday, October 13, 2014 6:30 am
Catskill Mountainkeeper is committed to being the strongest and most effective possible advocate for the Catskill region; working through a network of concerned citizens we promote sustainable growth and protect the natural resources essential to healthy communities.
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DISCOVER THE MAGIC OF THE CATSKILLS…..AND JOIN US FOR A CELEBRATION OF OUR SHORT FILM ‘CATSKILL PARK’
After this Saturday’s world premiere screening, please join us at the Terrapin Restaurant in Rhinebeck to help us celebrate this beautiful short film. The after party will begin at 3:45pm on Saturday, October 18th.
Saturday’s screening is sold out, but tickets are still available for the Friday screening. And if you would like to attend the Saturday screening and do not have a ticket, standby is available.
Directed by Nina Warren, this film brings to the screen the majestic beauty of the Catskills – it’s history, wilderness and waterways. For more info, please click here.
Synopsis: What’s so special about the Catskills? Why has this area inspired so many over the last two centuries? The film explores this question in interviews with many who have discovered the magic of this place. They consider the historical role of the Catskills as a mecca for recreation, health, and artistic pursuits. They consider their personal connections to The Catskills. And they look at its critical role as the watershed that not only supplies water to millions in the New York metropolitan area but stands as a role model for the rest of the country. Interviews include artists, historians, environmentalists, farmers, residents and visitors.
MAIN CREDITS:
Executive Producer(s): Ramsay Adams, Chris Spencer, Barbara Jaffee, Tom Woodbury
Producer(s): Nina Warren
Director(s): Nina Warren
Cinematographer(s): Henry Adebonjo, Jeff Sutch
Editor(s): Chris Milone, CAM Post
Composer(s)/Music: Jay Ungar, Griffin Anthony
Sound Designer(s): Sound Concept Audio
Click here to see all of this weekend’s events lined up for the festival.
Taste of the Catskills to honor 2 anti-fracking activists
We have great names for some local environmental groups: Clearwater, Scenic Hudson, Riverkeeper and Catskill Mountainkeeper. All the names have a connection to the thing that they are charged with shepherding: Clearwater, for the goal of a cleaner, clearer Hudson River. Scenic Hudson, for the spaces that line the mighty river. Riverkeeper: for a group of stewards who take active roles on the waters of the Hudson (as well off it, too) and Catskill Mountainkeeper, whose guardians watch over the mountains that many love and cherish.
Helping Mountainkeeper in its mission is a variety of civilian and celebrity advocates, and each year Mountainkeeper hosts a fundraiser — it relies on donations to help it operate — called Taste of the Catskills and gives out the Keeper of the Mountains award to people who are the “region’s environmental heroes.” The fundraiser this year is next weekend in Delhi and the honorees are two people active in the fight against fracking locally: musician Natalie Merchant and environmental filmmaker Jon Bowermaster.
Merchant is a longtime Hudson Valley resident, but she grew up in western New York, an area that saw a major environmental disaster with Love Canal in the 1970s. In 1989, while with 10,000 Maniacs, Merchant co-wrote a song called “Poison in the Well” that could easily be the anthem for the anti-fracking movement: “Oh, they tell us there’s poison in the well/That someone’s been a bit untidy, that there’s been a small spill.”
“Being recognized for helping raise awareness about environmental concerns in our own backyard is an honor, but it also feels like a responsibility … I am always impressed by the activists we meet who have committed their lives to fighting for our environment, like the Catskill Mountainkeepers and more. It is their example that inspires me,” Merchant said.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL POUGHKEEPSIE JOURNAL STORY BY JIMMY BUFF
New tourist center named for Hinchey
“The center will be staffed through a partnership that includes the Friends of the Catskill Interpretive Center, the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, the NY-NJ Trail Conference, the Catskill Mountain Club, Ulster County Tourism and the Catskill Mountainkeeper.”
Former Congressman Maurice Hinchey attended the groundbreaking Tuesday for a tourist center in Shandaken that will bear his name. Hinchey first secured funding for the project back in the 1980s.PAULINE LIU/Times Herald-Record
SHANDAKEN — Talk about red tape. More than 30 years after Maurice Hinchey secured the original funding to build a tourist center in Shandaken, a groundbreaking ceremony finally took place.
On Tuesday, the former congressman joined Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Joe Martens and local groups to celebrate the center which will bear his name.
The Maurice D. Hinchey Catskill Interpretive Center is slated to be a 1,700-square-foot facility located off State Route 28. The project is expected to be completed next spring.
The center is to serve as a gateway, providing visitors with information about the 700,000-acre Catskill Park. It is to be built on 62 acres that will include state trails, a fire tower, amphitheater, dog run and a picnic area.
Hinchey, 75, was an assemblyman when he secured the funding back in the 1980s. He received a standing ovation from a crowd of about 200, but made no speech.
“Hallelujah,” said Hinchey, wearing his trademark broad smile.
According to Martens, the Adirondack Park already has two tourist centers.
“But there is none in the Catskill Park, and it always seemed to be the second fiddle. But now we’re going to turn that around,” said Martens.
The DEC-managed project is expected to cost $1.3 million in public funds, including a $380,000 federal Housing and Urban Development grant.
The New York City Department of Environmental Protection has agreed to cover the center’s operating costs for its initial five years, at $20,000 per year.
Shandaken supervisor Rob Stanley said he hopes the center will help the local economy by promoting tourism.
“They’ll no longer be able call this the ‘Road to Nowhere,'” said Stanley, pointing to the center’s long driveway, which was installed years ago.