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If I could just be a bit selfish for a moment, I’d like to share the image with you here of my daughter Marina. She loves the garden — and picking flowers for Mom, as you can see. Marina tends our strawberry patch and helps weed and water the garden. It’s wonderful to see a child connect to the earth in a simple and gratifying way. Hope you are enjoying this spring, and look forward to summer as much as I do.
— Arthur Zaczkiewicz
If you get a chance, head down to see the replicas of the Nina and Pinta at the Kingston waterfront. The historic ships are docked at the Hudson River Maritime Museum and well worth the $7 tour fee. The ships are here until tomorrow, June 8. On Wednesday, though, the waterfront hosts a Henry Hudson Quad celebration with a fleet of historic boats and live music. The event kicks off at 5 p.m. at the museum. Call (845) 338-0071 for more info.
I’m lucky to know Julie and Steve Noble, environmental educators at the Forsyth Nature Center as well as board members of the Kingston Land Trust. Yesterday, the three of us biked down to New Paltz from Kingston and along the way I was treated to their expert knowledge of all things about the environment.
The rites of the growing season, for me, begin at two places: The Kingston Farmers’ Market (every Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Wall Street) and Davenport’s near the traffic circle.
At the former, I’m there to see friends and pick up fresh, in-season foods. At the latter, I’m there to buy local veggies while getting a chance to talk to some real farmers.
Last week I stopped at the stand and picked up some of the best asparagus I’ve ever had. If you hurry, there may be some left. I asked how they grew such great stuff. A woman at the counter, who had the telltale signs of a farmer that included a deep tan and muscular hands and arms, said: “You just have to keep the deer away.”
Via funding from the Ulster County Legislature, the Ulster County InfoPortal is a great starting point for people to tap databases and resources on Civil Service testing, vocational education, recorded books, ancestry research and language learning.
The website, found here, also has links to back issues of The New York Times from 1851 to 2003. Users need a local library card to access the databases.
In celebration of 400 years of Hudson River History, the Hudson River Maritime Museum is presenting a special event on June 10 at 5 p.m. at the museum, which is located at 50 Rondout Landing on the waterfront. The event features heritage ships the Half Moon, Clearwater and the Onrust. Other historic boats will be on hand such as the fireboat John J. Harvey, the tug Gov. Cleveland, the Launch 5 and the Riverkeeper. Mayor James Sottile will conduct a “ships welcome” and there will be music by the Kingston High School Jazz Ensemble as well as the Sea Shanty Singers. At 8 p.m., Jay Ungar and Molly Mason will perform with special guests Nanne Kalma and Ankie van der Meer as well as the Barefoot Boys. The music and dance will be broadcast live on WAMC radio. For more information, call (845) 338-0071.
Here’s a eye-opening slide show from Treehugger.com about the veggies that contain the most pesticides, which is another great reason to consumer organics.
The Senate House has a position opening up this summer, which would be perfect for a college student. Check out Pam Malcolm’s note here for more information:
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Kingston Community Radio has an archive of all of its broadcasts, which includes interviews with local, elected officials, community leaders and business leaders. Check out the archive, here.
The Times Herald-Record, which once had a bureau here in Kingston on North Front Street, is back in town. At the peak of its editorial zest and news breaking zeal, the old bureau housed John Milgrim (now working for the AG in Albany), Paul Brooks (still with the Record) and Eric Krieger (photo editor now at the Albany Times-Union).
This time around, the Middletown-based newspaper has assigned Adam Bosch to the Kingston beat.
We hear that Sean and Julie Griffin are getting redy to open a walk-up ice cream shop at 275 Fair Street (I think that’s the address!). “Uptown Twist” will serve soft ice cream as the name implies via a walk-up window. The space is small — 33 square feet, and has been reimagined by Sean as the perfect spot to sell ice cream. Stay tuned for the grand opening.
The National Gardening Association recently released a detailed report that surveyed U.S. households and found a huge jump in the number of people who plan on growing their own food this year.
The survey and report, titled “The Impact of Home and Community Gardening in America” found that 7 million more households “plan to grow their own fruits, vegetables, herbs, or berries in 2009 than in 2008 — a 19 percent increase in participation. This anticipated increase is nearly double the 10 percent growth in vegetable gardening from 2007 to 2008 and reflects the number of new food gardeners emerging this year,” said the NGA.
Kingston Majority Leader and 7th Ward Alderman Bill Reynolds was kind enough to invite Mark Greene and myself onto his show this morning on Kingston Community Radio to chat about the KingstonDigitalCorridor.org initiative. We talked about the progess we’ve made (launching and marketing the campaign) as well as what’s happening next (another social event, a Google maps project and a bus tour, among other stuff).
The mayor announced an “All American Barbecue” and fireworks for July 5 on the Rondout. See the city website for more info.
The Kingston Land Trust is on of 29 area non-profits selected to participate in a special organizational retreat at the Omega Institute Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, N.Y. The Omega In Service Grant allows key executives of the Kingston Land Trust to set goals and develop strategies in a relaxed yet focused setting.