Photo: Jason Rahm

Puppeteer Ramona Jan recently performed with her marionettes in Times Square. Ramona build many of her marionettes from found objects. Her musical review Some Strings Attached performs at local venues and events.

We are so excited to be opening the Green Door homestead on North Main Street in Liberty, NY. We envision a multi-use space for art exhibitions, musical performances, film screenings, guest speakers and curated retail. We want the space to be a creative gathering place for the community.

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve seen first-hand the hustle and bustle of Liberty’s Main Street. Don’t let the vacant storefronts fool you. Thousands of cars are driving through Liberty each day and people are always walking by the the storefronts. During drop-off and pick-up at Liberty Elementary School, Main Street is packed.

We chose Liberty because we believe in its future. Our space is across from the Liberty Theater which is set to continue renovations this summer. The Liberty Skate Park begins construction in the next few weeks and is just around the corner. The Liberty Museum and Art Center is two doors down. The old Fleet Bank building up the street is being renovated with plans to become artist studios and a first floor gallery space. The Liberty Free Theater is moving forward with plans to move to a new 70-seat state of the art theater by next season. The new Great American Supermarket is open, which brings residents to Main Street again to shop. Liberty is looking up.

We ask small business owners and entrepreneurs looking for locations to consider Liberty. It is centrally located in Sullivan County with three exits off Route 17(Future I86).

Stay tuned.

The Premiere Issue of Modern Farmer

With a homestead in nearby Hudson, NY, Modern Farmer is a new quarterly print magazine and digital hub devoted to contemporary farming and food. Farming is no longer a disconnected industry and lifestyle far removed from the supermarket aisles. Today, a growing movement of consumers are interested in knowing about where their food comes from. “We all want to get closer to nature and animals and to learn the skills that come so natural for people who live in the country,” says Modern Farmer Editor Ann Marie Gardner. “Modern Farmer is going to be the first consumer-focused agriculture brand to lead this conversation and lifestyle choice.”

While Modern Farmer is right up the river, the quarterly will bring the global farming and agriculture world to your village and, in the process, show how connected we all are to the earth and each other. Modern Farmer will be available internationally, throughout North America and the United Kingdom. In the United States, it will be distributed at major newsstands, from Whole Foods and Hudson News, to Tractor Supply. In a new and innovative form of distribution, Modern Farmer will also be the first magazine to be available via Community-Supported Agricultural networks (CSAs) and organic home delivery services.

To purchase a subscription visit the Modern Farmer website, or follow them on Twitter @modfarm.

Welcome to the neighborhood.

Photo: Tannis Kowalchuk and Brett Keyser in STRUCK, photo by Steve Wagner

By NACL

NACL premieres STRUCK its newest play about neurology, the mind’s workings, and the spirit’s razor’s-edge balance between life and death. In 2011, NACL Artistic Director and actress Tannis Kowalchuk had a major stroke. After her stroke physiotherapy, Kowalchuk continued her own theatre-driven physical and vocal therapy to regain her abilities and skills as a performer, musician, and stilt walker. The exercises that she practiced to return to her “performer self” was what planted the seeds for STRUCK. Created in collaboration with fellow NACL actor Brett Keyser, Canadian director Ker Wells, and real-life neuroscientist and psychotherapist Allison Waters, the play also includes the work of a multi-disciplinary and talented cast of artists and engineers including New York playwright Kristen Kosmas, digital artist Brian Caiazza, Canadian lighting engineer and inventor Jim Ruxton, filmmaker Tina Spangler, costumer Karen Flood, New York City lighting designer Stephen Arnold, technical director Zoot, of Woodstock Stage and Screen, technicians Joe Murray and Ray Cornelison, and designers Pam Mayer and Hall Smyth.

This extraordinary collaboration has spawned a poetic and visually stunning performance that incorporates video, a live and recorded musical score, and a custom-designed light installation based on the night-sky displays of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, a natural wonder common above Kowalchuk’s childhood home in Winnipeg, Canada. These man-made northern lights illuminate the journey of the protagonist, Catherine (played by Kowalchuk), while echoing the electrical impulses of her brain as she encounters a shape-shifting angel figure (played by Keyser) and a neurologist (played by Waters). At times wrenching, often humorous, the play attends to Catherine’s probing questions “What happened to my brain?” “Am I a new me?” Through an intricately looped narrative crafted by Kowalchuk, Keyser, Kosmas, Wells, and Waters, the play takes audiences inside the stroke victim’s brain as it searches for understanding and identity, while grappling with the basic struggle to exist.

NACL premiered STRUCK at Cleveland Public Theatre in March 2013, and in December 2013, STRUCK will move to New York City for a three-week run at HERE Arts Center in lower Manhattan.

NEW–This season NACL will offer childcare during the performances as an added service for community members with young children. NACL requests that parents call ahead to inform the theatre if they will be bringing their children.

NACL is also pleased to announce that the theatre has bought new chairs for a more comfortable viewing experience.

Here are some some reviews and press for STRUCK:

“Your synapses are going to light up in new and different ways when experiencing this amazing event.” From Christine Howey’s review of Struck at CPT – 03.24.13
“Keyser and Kowalchuk are arresting performers who are fascinating to watch.” Andrea Simakis reviews Struck for The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) – 03.27.13
“…an exceptional piece of literature that also happens to be a show. …unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.” Kory’s Review: struck @ Cleveland Public Theatre – 03.28.13

May 24-June 2, 2013
Friday-Sunday at 7:30 PM, Sunday June 2 Matinee at 4 PM
NACL Theatre 110 Highland Lake Rd., Highland Lake, NY 12743
Tickets $20/$10 students
Purchase online http://www.nacl.org — seating for each performance is limited
NEW this year: Childcare will be provided during the performance

By Art Wave

Llyn Towner’s paintings will be on solo exhibition at the Healing Arts Gallery at Ellenville Regional Hospital from May 6 through June 21. The show is free and open to the public, 8am-8pm daily. Opening Reception: Monday May 20th 5 – 7pm. Ellenville Regional Hospital is located at 10 Healthy Way in Ellenville. For more information about the Healing Arts exhibit or the Ellenville Regional Hospital, please contact (845) 210-3043.

Ms. Towner has shown continuously in the Mid-Hudson region since moving to Woodstock in 2001. She is a board member of the Woodstock Artists Association, Woodstock, NY, a member of the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, Woodstock, NY, and of the National Association of Women Artists, New York, NY.

As a life-long gouache painter, she was always willing to explore the properties of other materials such as plaster, wax and ink, and began to use pastel in earnest a few years ago. After a while, gouache began to insist on being part of the work and indeed, there is a strong relationship between the opaque water color gouache, made with pigment, chalk and gum Arabic and dry pastels which are also made from pigment, water, a binder such as gum Arabic and sometimes chalk or kaolin clay. She is currently immersed in abstract drawing and painting, using a variety of media including pastel, conté, graphite, ink, and gouache on a variety of materials. Very recently she has been exploring the properties of pastel on corrugated cardboard, the square, three color compositions and the endless shapes offered by the intersecting line. Mark-making holds her attention as she continues to explore the formal elements of composition. The journey continues – may it never end.

Recent exhibitions include juried Group shows in Main Gallery & Small Works Gallery at the Woodstock Artists Association in 2012 and 2013 – “The Drawing Galaxy” Group show at The Doghouse Gallery, Saugerties, NY, in 2012 and the Members Show at the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild, Kleinert James Gallery, Woodstock, New York 2012.

Her works are part of private collections in Australia, Mexico, Spain, UK and USA

Ellenville Regional Hospital is located on Route 209 in Ellenville. For more information about the Healing Art exhibit or the Ellenville Regional Hospital, please contact (845) 647-6400.

Abandoned Barn – White Sulpher Springs

Aileen Gunther, Liberty Mayor Dan Ratner and Liberty Town Supervisor Charles Barbuti give their blessings to the new skate park.

Aileen Gunther and Team Skate cut the ribbon.

Team Skate member Ryan Burns and Travis Atkins

A decade in the making, the Liberty Skate Park breaks ground in an underused village parking lot in Liberty. Heinrich Strauch of the Liberty CDC and local leaders were on hand for the ceremony. An incredible effort and job well done by Liberty Team Skate.

Please continue to donate to Liberty Team Skate so they can reach their goal of $150, 000.

BRUNCH $15
Includes coffee or tea, apple or orange juice and basket of baked goods.
Frittatas and sandwiches served with a choice of soup or fries or house salad.
Soups: Cream of tomato or white bean and smoked sausage.

EGGS COCOTTE
Eggs baked in cream with spinach and smoked ham.

3- EGG FRITTATA OMELETS
Bacon & Mozzarella
Tomato, basil & Mozzarella

CROQUE MADAME SANDWICH
Ham or tomato and swiss cheese topped with cheese sauce and fried egg.

CUBANO SANDWICH
Swiss cheese, ham, roast pork and pickle.

GRILLED CHEESE
Cheddar cheese, tomato, bacon.

CRAB CAKE BURGER
Lettuce, tomato and spicy mayo.

BRAZILIAN STYLE CHICKEN POT PIE
Creamy shredded chicken encrusted in puff pastry over vegetables.

GOAT CHEESE CROUTON SALAD
Grilled bread topped with goat cheese over mixed greens, shredded carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes.

BLUE CHEESE, APPLE & WALNUT SALAD
Over mixed greens, shredded carrots and port wine dressing.

SOUP & SALAD
Tomato and basil soup topped with a sunny-side-up egg crouton and house salad.

BRAZILIAN SYTLE FRIED RICE
Eggs, bacon, smoked sausage and vegetables with a side of beans.

BELGIUM WALFFLE
Served with fresh fruit and whipped cream.

MIMOSA OR GLASS OF HOUSE WINE (With any brunch meal) $5
KIDS Rice & beans or grilled cheese. Choice of apple or banana or fries and juice box $6

Join the Phillies Bridge Farm Project Saturday, May 18 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. The annual Open House will feature a farm tour, CSA and Summer Camp orientations, children’s activities, visits with the farm animals, and a farmers’ market with some of the community’s favorite vendors. Meet the new farmers and their crew of apprentices. Find out about all of the farm’s programs, including the summer camp, Growing Together, and Homeschool on the Farm. Buy plant starts for your home garden from the greenhouse.

For more information, call (845) 256-9108 or e-mail info@philliesbridge.org. Free.

Event Schedule:
11:00 CSA Orientation
11:30 Summer Camp Orientation
12:30 Farm Tour
1:00 CSA Orientation
Farmers’ Market, Plant Sale, and Children’s Activities throughout.

Plans are underway for the first Upper Delaware BioBlitz event to be held on Saturday, June 29 in the Northeast corner of Wayne County. During a BioBlitz, biologists and volunteers gather to collect, identify and catalogue as many living things as possible on a demarcated property in a 24-hour period.

The public is invited to experience the diversity of life on the host property owned by the Norcross Wildlife Foundation in Starlight, PA. Bring the family from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to view the collected specimens, talk to the experts and enjoy a workshop, all at no charge. The goal is to highlight the biodiversity of the Upper Delaware River watershed.

Teams will focus on specific categories of life, including aquatic macroinvertebrates, birds, botany, fish, fungi, reptiles and amphibians, invertebrates, mammals, mosses and lichens. During a recent visit to the site, a variety of specimens were observed, ranging from painted turtles and salamanders to yellow trout lilies and skunk cabbage.

Participating organizations associated with the event are Delaware Highlands Conservancy, Delaware Highlands Mushroom Society, Delaware Riverkeeper Network, Friends of the Upper Delaware, National Park Service, Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, NEPA Audubon Society, Norcross Wildlife Foundation, Pennsylvania Native Plants Society and the Wayne County Community Foundation.

Visit upperdelawarebioblitz.com or www.facebook.com/2013UpperDelawareBioBlitz for additional information and directions to the site, or email info@upperdelawarebioblitz.com. Volunteers are needed for various tasks. Contact Joann Morsch at jomorsch12@verizon.net for details about volunteering.