If you’ve never visited the Emerson Resort & Spa in the Catskills, 2016 is the year to go! So, we did! Yes, The Hudson Valley Story just spent a couple of days experiencing the resort, spa and new restaurant, Woodnotes Grille, and we were impressed by the service, accommodations, spa and Catskill inspired cuisine.
Photo Courtesy Emerson Resort & Spa
After a multi-million dollar renovation, the resort has a new look that is more reflective of the properties namesake, legendary poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. His famous essay “Nature” was the incentive for the development of the Catskill Forest Preserve surrounding the Emerson grounds. Emily Fisher, the owner of the resort worked close with designer Rosyln Cama. Together, they were inspired by the Essence of the Catskills. They brought the outside in with open spaces, large windows that expose stunning outdoor views and an earthy color palette of browns, blues, whites and greens. The resort also commissioned a variety of new NATURE based artwork that includes sculptures, art pieces and paintings by several notable artists.
The Great Room at the Emerson Resort & Spa
We toured the new looking contemporary resort, and stayed at the Adirondack-Style Lodge which overlooks the Esopus Creek. Tamara Murray, Marketing Director for the resort tells us that guests that come up from the metropolitan area are surprised at how big the rooms are. The Lodge is one of two accommodation styles. Guests can stay at the contemporary style Inn and the mountain inspired Lodge. Both types of accommodations have multiple room styles, including suites with 2 floors.
Downstairs is a a big living space with a big fireplace, vaulted ceilings, a full bath and includes a porch and grounds that lead to views of the creek. Upstairs is the loft with and a full bath that includes a Jacuzzi.
The Inn rooms were renovated and include new furniture, light fixtures and carpeting. Renovations to the Lodge include converting the old Front Desk area to a seating area with couches, tables and the grand fireplace. It’s a great place for families and groups to gather.
Photo Courtesy Emerson Resort Spa & Resort
The lobby of the Lodge is picture perfect and an additional space to soak up the atmosphere with friends or just read a book. The Emerson is a place for families, couples, wedding parties, escapes from the city or a great place to stay while visiting family and friends in the area. Some rooms are pet friendly. The grounds feature the Catamount Dog Park, a place to picnic, play volleyball and bonfires on Friday + Saturday night during Summer.
If you live in the Hudson Valley or upstate this is also a great place to get away for a night and experience a Stay-cation in unique relaxed surroundings, get spa treatments and enjoy delicious Catskill cuisine.
Photo Courtesy of The Emerson Resort & Spa
The Spa renovations will be complete in June 2016. In the meantime, spa services are still being offered on-site. Traditional Massages + European Facials + Luxury Spa Pedicure’s are available by appointment. The HVStory suggests you make as many of these appointments as you can! The Emerson Resort provides an experience of relaxation and well-being in a picturesque setting. The new Spa will debut a new menu of treatments that will combine their natural surroundings with the deep relaxation effects of stone therapy. A fitness center, steam room and sauna are on premises and yoga classes are also offered. This is a place to go rejuvenate your mind, body and spirit.
Spa Treatments Are Part of the Emerson Experience!
Besides the views from indoors, the Emerson offers paths to walk and places to sit with views of the Esopus Creek and the peaks of Mount Tremper.
Photo Courtesy of Emerson Resort & Spa
A highlight of the renovation is the launch of The Emerson’s new restaurant Woodnotes Grille. The Woodnotes Grille features traditional American dishes. Catskill Creative Cooking is Food you know done the Emerson way, with fresh locally sourced foods, unforgettable flavors and ingredients with little innovative twists! Burgers, Steak, Seafood and Vegetarian fare are all available. The locals as well as tourists are surprised of the level of wine selection. You will find a lot of small batched made wines and spirits. Many guests from Brooklyn, Long Island and Connecticut love the redesigned restaurant and menu.
Dinner is served from 5pm to 10pm.
Cocktails are served Friday – Sunday starting at 3pm.
Photo Courtesy of The Emerson Resort & Spa
Woodnotes Grille puts a spin on the classic cocktail by using high-end artisanal spirits, bitters, fresh squeezed juices and the finest ingredients. Hand Crafted Cocktails are offered. Tell them your favorite spirits and flavors and they will create an original cocktail paired to your tastes.
Happier Hour is served Monday thru Thursday from 5-7 + Friday from 3-7 with $5 Appetizers.
Thursday Night is Oyster & Wine Night
After spa treatments, It was time for those hand crafted beverages and an appetizer. I chose a selection of air dried + cured meats appetizer that was delicious. My spirit of choice that evening was Tequila. Greg Gagne, General Manager of Woodnotes Grill made me a SMOKY Mezcal Molasses Gimlick. This blended and complimented the meats, cranberry chutney and old fashioned mustard very well!
Catskill Creative Cooking, I like it!
Menus do change seasonally and a new Spring menu is about to be released for May.
Breakfast is served from 7am to noon. The Veggie Benedict was delicious! Poached eggs served on sweet potato kale hash with avocado, salsa Verde + Pico Degallo. The fresh squeezed grapefruit juice was particular sweet, fresh and flavorful. Other Breakfast entree’s include: Smoked Salmon Omelette’s, Cinnamon Challah French Toast Stick served with Catskill Mountain Maple Syrup and Quinola Granola with seasonal fruit and a complete offering of juices are available.
Breakfast or Dinner the mood and views are very relaxing at Woodnotes Grille
Before or After Breakfast or in the evening is also great time to walk around the grounds of The Emerson Resort & Spa along the Esopus Creek. 
Country Stores + Worlds Largest Kaleidoscope
The Country Store is a must stop! It’s a place for coffee and light sandwiches and fresh baked cookies, as well as Catskill Mountain local products like Phoenicia Honey and Ariston Gourmet Olive Oils.. There are tastings on the weekends. You will find something for everyone here in terms of shopping. The Toy Chest, the Emerson Men’s Shop, a Home & Garden Shop and Melina’s Boutique.
Ah, But one of the most unique things about the Emerson Resort & Spa and The Country Stores is that it is home
to the World’s Largest Kaleidoscope
Whether you are a collector or a tourist, you will want to see this! Standing 56 feet tall and 38 feet in diameter, the silo from the original farm (which was once an ice cream stop) built on the former Risley Flats was transformed into the World’s Largest Kaleidoscope. The connected barn on the property was built in 1860 and is now home to the Emerson Country Stores. Collectors + Tourists make this a destination stop, not only to view the show but to collect unique kaleidoscopes.
A 20th Anniversary celebration is planned for Saturday, July 9th to debut a new Kaleidoscope show. Viewings that day will be complimentary and many events are planned for the 1 day celebration. The Spa will also be completed with it’s renovation. This is a great kick off to Summer and just another reason to plan your visit to The Emerson Resort & Spa.
To Learn More About The Emerson Resort & Spa + Make Your Reservations Click Here
To Learn More About Destination Weddings at The Pavilion Click Here
A Conference Room is Available for Corporate Functions
Follow The Emerson For Daily Updates on
Facebook + Twitter + Instagram
Photos By Melissa Tyler Except Where Noted
Supplied Courtesy of The Emerson Resort & Spa
There is something wonderful about intentional moments when capturing couples and there is a whole different magic that happens when capturing the unintentional moments as well. Caitlinn Mahar-Daniels lives for both!
A traditionally trained photographer obsessed with capturing LOVE between people. She thrives off the positive energy and atmosphere she has the privilege of capturing with her lens!
Caitlinn has been photographing weddings professionally since 2011 and strictly gets her clients through word of mouth. Other happy couples tell more happy couples about their dream wedding. It’s the love that is generated from the couples she photographs that emits an energy and excitement!
Caitlinn recommends if a couple is looking to use their engagement photographs for their “Save the Dates’ they should take that into consideration when booking their session. Engagement photographs can take place at any time while planning the wedding process. She has photographed multiple engagement sessions as much as two years before a couple walks down the isle as well as two weeks before the wedding. If a couple has time to plan, she suggests thinking about a favorite season and involving nature becomes a very important part of the process.
Something that is really important is that the bride feels a connection with her photographer on an emotional as well as aesthetic level. In Caitlinn’s case many brides or grooms make an inquiry through her website. She responds by finding out basic information about the couple.
From there either a phone conversation or a meeting is scheduled. After a meeting and the couple official books the photographer a contract is signed and a deposit is made. That’s when the scheduling and engagement photos are planned. After that, Caitlinn and the couple talk several times before the wedding day to go over a timeline and specific posed photographs. This is an important step in the process since candid’s are mainly taken during the wedding. So it is important to have conversations in advance about the directed and set up photographs.
The BIG Day is spent photographing the getting ready process and details, first look, family, bridal party, bride and groom portraits and the documentation of the wedding. The couples receive their images through an online gallery within two weeks of the wedding and a box of prints and various other materials within a month after their wedding day.
Caitlinn has photographed at numerous locations throughout the Hudson Valley + beyond. The list is too long to mention here. A few of the locations include Boscobel, The Garrison, The Links, The Thayer Hotel, Central Park Boathouse, The New York Botanical Gardens and private homes and estates just to name a few.
Adventure WeddingsRustic, barn settings, open fields, destination adventure weddings have become very popular and Caitlinn enjoys working with couples that think outside of the box.
Two words of advice she gives is “avoid Pinterest and get your inspiration from within. Think deep within your souls and what comes from your heart and let that guide how your wedding should be”. She’s not saying to abandon tradition, but thinks it’s important for people to truly have the wedding they want to have and not the wedding the think they are supposed to have.
As an example, she and her husband were married at Blooming Hill Farm in the middle of July with 48 guests and every bit of decor came from her imagination and no where else.” Having your family and friends documented in authentic moments are what is truly important.”Other local locations she would like to shoot more at are Full Moon Resort, Ashokan Dreams, The Roadhouse, Shadow Lawn and a list of new B&B’s that have been popping up.
About 25 percent of the weddings she now photographs are destination weddings all over the country + beyond. South Africa holds a special place in her heart. She says she has a large social media following from this area and this could be in part to her husband Brian who will be coming on-board as her partner and photographer. Other destination dream locations she would like to shoot weddings at are Iceland, the Isle of Skye, New Zealand and many more. She is also interested in photographing destination elopements and documenting an elopement in Monument Valley would be the absolute dream!
Caitlinn met her husband Brian in South Africa while photographing a wedding several years ago. He will now be joining forces and they are in the midst of re-branding her brand to her new last name “The Ramsdens” Brian’s mother and sister are both talented photographers in SA so although he is not classically trained in the art, it was a natural transition and he learned the ropes rather quickly. She says “it was definitely in his blood”.
All Photos By Caitlinn Mahar- Daniels
Jane Watson is an independent filmmaker living in the Hudson Valley. Her passion is film-making! She loves the process of making a film. ” I love uncovering a story. I love listening to people tell me their stories. I love uncovering little details while watching the film take shape, evolve and change. I love collaborating with other artists and story tellers”.
Crossing Waters: The Documentary is a 40 minute documentary that she completed in Fall 2015 that has won several awards and is a main attraction featured at several film festivals across the country.
Poughkeepsie Immigration HistoryJane began researching Poughkeepsie’s first ward a neighborhood now known as “little Italy” which lies underneath Poughkeepsie’s Walkway Over The Hudson Once her research began, it became clear that there were 60 years of history that had been forgotten or not known today by most of the community. Before the Italian immigrants arrived and began to settle in this neighborhood it had been primarily an Irish neighborhood.
Those 60 years represent a period in Poughkeepsie, as well as the country’s growing pains and conflict as America struggled with it’s first major wave of immigration. “The more I researched, the more I realized how similar the conflict of the past was exactly the same conflict of immigration today.”
She admits the film took three years to make because of a tiny budget, little resources and the amount of research that had to be done. She credits the resources of Vassar College, Marist College, FDR Library, IBM archives, NY State Archives, the Library of Congress and University of Connecticut.
After the film was completed, the process of submitting it into film festivals in the United States and Europe Began. It was a tough time because the film was competing to get accepted into film festivals where as many as 2,000 other films were submitted for each festival. The other films had budgets 10 – 12 times the budget of Crossing Waters. She was in direct competition with films that had interviews with the Taliban or a film narrated by Liam Neeson.
The film with a tiny budget and no big name cast wound up doing pretty well. It won two film awards at film competitions in southern California and Atlanta. The Silver Award Spotlight Documentary Film Awards in Atlanta (December 2015) and an Award for Merit Special Mention for Technical and Artistic Capabilities Women Filmmakers IndieFest, (November 2015) La Jolla, California
To date, her film has been accepted into three film festivals and interest from some others that we can’t mention at this time. A local Hudson Valley showing at prestigious Vassar College last week was only the first local preview. There is a plan in action for a larger viewing for the Hudson Valley Community.
This past weekend, the film premiered at The Chicago Irish Film Festival where it got fantastic reviews from fellow filmmakers.
Saturday, March 17th Jane will attend PENN State for the College Town Film Festival which is organized in Burbank, California and will travel to different college campuses. PENN State is just the first stop. Later this year, her first European festival will be at the Northern Wales International Film Festival.
ImmigrationJane says “the documentary deals with history. History does not tend to be as popular today…people are more interested in realty TV shows than history. But, she is quick to point out how strategically the film has a tie to America’s history and today’s current conflict of immigration. Including the similarities between Donald Trump and fear mongers of the past.”
Jane Watson is a graduate of NYU’S prestigious film school. She has worked in advertising for a division of Saatchi & Saatchi, the Writers Guild of America, production and post production in film and television. Her passion for documentary storytelling and photojournalism was developed while working as a newspaper photographer in New York City covering civil rights movements, police actions and the political life of the city.
She is currently developing several new projects including looking for a script of what she would like to call her dream project to make a smart, scary, thriller. “American women haven’t really broken into this genre. I’d like to bust open the boy’s club and work in this area”.
You know your doing something right when people tell you they LOVE what your doing. They want to be #THEHVStory. Well, this past week, we have been inundated with kind words and all kinds of requests! So we thank you for that!
Jeffrey Anzevino is doing what he loves. For the last 25 years he has worked for Scenic Hudson as the Director of Land Use Advocacy. But, there’s a back story to every story and that is what always intrigues us. That is the Essence of #THEHVstory.
You see, Jeffrey has been what he likes to call a “water rat” his whole life. His father taught him to love the Hudson River. He took him sailing on the Hudson when he was a kid in the 1960s. He moved away with family when he was a teenager, but never forgot those days on the river. After 20 years of living from coast to coast, he returned and found a much cleaner river, The Hudson River was the river of his youth and the river he fell in love with!
Returning to Highland in 1991, with a pick-up truck, a camera, a guitar, a sailboat and his cat, he quickly found the boat ramp at Poughkeepsie. He learned the River that Flows Both Ways – Muhheakantuck; and that the wind was fickle and the tide was both predictable and incessant. “Currents can be your friend or your enemy and, as in life, it’s best not to try to fool Mother Nature”.
He became good at sailing a 14 foot wind-powered craft in all conditions. From March to November, day and night the river was his domain. Most of all, he loved sailing under the abandoned Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge and encountering an array of commercial river traffic. This is where we always like to point out the serendipity of the story. 
You see, Jeff’s favorite subjects to photograph was the abandoned Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge now known as Walkway Over the Hudson , and the commercial boats that travel the Hudson. He spent his time honing his technique, sailing into position, aiming his camera under the boom, steadying the tiller with his knee and making photographs. Soon he had quite a collection. He sells these photographs and produces calendars of the commercial boats he loves. The tugboats are the most popular among captains, crew and family members as well as maritime transportation companies.
Back in 2000, Jeff bought a larger boat and changed from film to digital cameras. That’s when Tug-Spotting became an obsession! He attributes sophisticated tracking equipment and junior high math to predict when tugboats will arrive at any given location! He also likes to bike ride on the Walkway Over the Hudson for photos.
In the winter, he likes to wake up before sunrise and wait on freezing bridges to capture powerful tugs and barges crashing through the ice. During Summer, he dashes out to rendezvous with tugs out at the channel for wide angle up close and personal encounters. Follow his Hudson River and Tugboat photos on Facebook
in 1994, as a Geographic major at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, Jeffrey was a DJ at a college radio station. He took a course called Country Music in America and listened to the public radio station. He decided to express himself through music and bought a Dobro which is a wood-bodied single cone resonator guitar. Jeff was invited out onto the abandoned Poughkeepsie Railroad Bridge with his band-mates to record the soundtrack for Dick Crensn’s documentary “Sittin On Top Of The World”. Soon after that, he wrote “The Hudson River Song” as a tribute to Pete Seeger, the Sloop Clearwater and everyone who works to restore the Hudson River and give it back to the people.
Today, the Hudson River is cleaner. The abandoned bridge is now Walkway Over the Hudson, a fabulous park. Music and Photography are deeply ingrained in Jeff ‘s spirit and it gives him great pleasure to use both to convey his perceptive and love of the Hudson River.
Jeffrey Anzevino’s photographs as well as some of his original songs written in celebration of the Hudson River will be featured at Underground Coffee & Ales in Highland. The exhibit is called “The Hudson River: Images & Music” and the opening reception is Sunday, March 13th from 2-4pm. The Music will be performed by Jeff’s band Rich Hines & The Hillbilly Drifters a bluesy bluegrass band.
Jeff will also donate the sale of a 20×30 canvas print “Mother Shop & Spawn” to Hudson River Sloop Clearwater’s “Float the Boat” program and will donate a 20×20 canvas print to Walkway as a silent auction item.
Jeffrey Anzevino – A Hudson Valley Photographer, Songwriter and Founder of the Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association.
We would like to hear from you!
Contact THEHVStory With Your Inquiry!
I have known Donna Davies for eight years, We met when I co-created a tourism magazine and reached out to her to submit editorial content on her passion; all things Halloween and her website Hudson Valley Halloween Magazine ! Since then, she has written a handful of children’s books , co-produced Halloween parades in Dutchess County, written numerous online pieces, decorates like a mad-woman for Halloween and somewhere along the line had time for her new passion pottery!
When you are thinking of starting a new creative project, it sometimes takes a while to get going. There are moments when you have a vision of how you are going to do something. You even picture the successful outcome and you catch yourself doing a little happy dance while driving in the car. But guess what? Sometimes you NEVER do that great creative idea! I think many artistic people go through this and I know there are more times than I care to admit that I have personally dropped the ball or let go of why I should do something. That changed for me this year and I take comfort from friends like Donna Davies who choose to constantly grow, change and delve into a new artistic project. 
Donna has always been artistic. She had been told you can’t support yourself on an artist’s income. But after receiving her BA Degree, she was looking for something to fulfill the needs of the right side of her brain. She took a few classes at Rhinbeck Pottery and was hooked.
Although she had limited free time, she set up a home studio and devoted her off-time to practicing her new craft. Of course, in the beginning she admits she wasn’t very good. Pottery is an art form that takes patience and practice. So she researched the possibilities, became more intrigued with the endless applications and techniques of working with clay. She says ” Ceramics is no longer your grandmother’s hobby and certainly not limited to paint your own pottery shops”.
Cape Cod is a mecca for pottery and Donna took workshops at Castle Hill with Chandra Debuse who is gaining quite a reputation for herself in the ceramics industry. Snow Farm in Massachusetts is another amazing place to retreat to and a couple of hours away from the Hudson Valley. A lot of her off-time is spent looking for pottery workshops on the east coast where she meets the most amazing people. She says “when she is immersed in making pottery nothing else exists”. She is now taking an online pottery course with Diana Fayt who she calls an amazing artist who transitions her drawings into clay. In the Hudson Valley she likes the classes at Art Centro and is working toward her dream trip to spend a month at Arrowmont in Tennessee.
“I remember my first dish like it was yesterday. It was a hot summer day. I was slicing up a juicy watermelon and placed it in a dish that I made myself. The caladon color of the dish brought out the pink of the watermelon. Hence the name of my studio, Caladonna Studio. A combination of my favorite glaze and my name”. Serendipity Indeed!
Influences & InspirationChandrea Debuse, Molly Hatch and Diana Fayt are her favorite potters. She loves how they blend the art of drawing and using clay as a medium to create something functional and appealing to the eye. She likes fun pottery which is functional and it carries as an inspiration for developing her own personal style which has taken her the past few years to figure out.
“I always have a sketch pad with me. After spending 13 years working as the Director of Web Marketing at The Culinary Institute of America, it’s not a surprise that food would play a role in what she creates. She is developing a line of pie plates.
Local antique shops and retro kitchen also inspire her craft. From cherry red and bright teal to kitschy advertising. Since her focus is on functional pottery, her work is starting to reflect the period of time when life was all baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. She even uses a retro kitchen table as her glaze table.
1. You can make pottery anywhere with tools you can find around your house.
2. Color….color….color! I love the multitude of colors and glaze availability.
3. I love the new friends I’ve made who have a love for clay.
To watch Donna’s progress follow her on Pinterest + Instagram
Her pottery website Celadonna Studio is under construction so check back!
We would like to hear from you!
Contact THEHVStory With Your Inquiry!
We love when people contact us through our website to tell us about their Hudson Valley Story!
Mark Woods is an amateur photographer that likes taking photos of landscapes, sunrises and maritime subjects. Photography is pretty much a hobby to him, but he has been taking photographs for about fifteen years.
Mark is a retired truck driver who traveled up and down the east coast. Although he traveled a lot during this period he did not take photographs of his travels. He also had a route closer to home in the New York city area but with 30-40 stops per day, photography just didn’t fit in.
Capturing sunrises in the Hudson Valley is what interests him today. The Hudson Valley has opened his eyes to many natural wonders which he didn’t appreciate living in the city. Living in Brooklyn, he says “when you step outside your house you can only see across the street”. He moved to the area in 1985 and never looked back. He loves the Hudson Valley panorama’s. He enjoys photography because it gives him the ability to capture an instant in time that is visually pleasing and he can share with the world.
Mark Woods also served in the US Army for 32 years where he did many things. He ran a 19,000 line item mobile warehouse of spare parts which he could put 75% of anywhere in the world in 24 hours. The rest of the week he ran a ration breakdown distributing food to 16,000 soldiers for 45 kitchens on maneuvers. He also was the logistician for mechanize infantry Battalion of about 800 soldiers and equipment, getting everything they needed; where they needed it, when they got there. During retirement he attended the Culinary Institute of America and studied general culinary arts and admits he enjoys making people food they enjoy and makes a mean carrot cake.
Mark has exhibited his photos at Barnes & Nobel, The Newburgh Library and a few local town hall offices. His work can also be viewed on Smugmug and Facebook. His photos can also be found on the Hudson River Pilots Association and Tugboat Information
We would like to hear from you!Contact THEHVStory With Your Inquiry!
If you live in the Hudson Valley and are active on social media, there’s a high chance you’ve seen photos by Carolyn Odell Photography. If you haven’t then you should follow her Facebook page and visit her on SmugMug where you can view her entire portfolio of work as well as purchase your favorite images for your home or office.
We talked to this well known area photographer this week and learned she is up and out and making photographs daily. She says it feels like forever, but in realty she has been making photographs steady and daily for five years. Photography has changed her everyday existence. Once she started to notice the details, she saw how much beauty is around her everyday in the most ordinary or unexpected places. That’s when she started to derive happiness from seeing and being able to capture amazing light and color.
“Inspiration and creativity are all around us. Sometimes we inspire, sometimes we see inspiration in others.” She pays homage to Fred Schaffer, who saw a debilitated old railroad bridge and had vision for the Walkway Over the Hudson. “I think his determination and not giving up attitude most influenced me to keep going forward.”
Carolyn’s favorite subjects are Hudson Valley sunrises, sunsets, ice waterfalls and nature. She is also excited about her new abstract “blurred” series inspired by a Georgia O’Keeffe painting called “Reflection Seascape” of Lake George. “It had a dreamy quality to it. It was sparse on detail yet very serene. I am trying to create an impression. It is as if you were to look at a scene and then look away quickly without being able to focus. You would not be able to take in the details of the scene but left the color and light. An essence of a landscape; soft, dreamy feeling.”
Anywhere along the river. I have shot from above Hudson down to Ossining. The creeks at Vanderbilt and James Baird State Park for ice pictures. There is so much to photograph here in the Hudson Valley, every day is a new day. Sometimes I just stumble upon a scene that catches my eye and I just go with it. I go out having a plan on what I will photograph and something else entirely will resent itself. Art leads, I follow.
I want my work to reflect the peace and tranquility that I often obtain from these scenes I capture. I would like when my work is being viewed it strikes some kind of emotion in the viewer. A state of pleasure and or a state of serenity. Creativity is boundless. Each one of my photographs come from an ordinary moment captured. Sparked by imagination. I hope that people will be inspired to get out in nature and seek out their own surroundings.
Solo shows include: “A Moment in Time” all abstract ice at Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center in Poughkeepsie. Mixture landscapes with ice at The Arts Upstairs in Phoenicia. Carolyn Odell has also been in multiple group shows and is currently working towards having another solo show.
I would like to continue to improve my skills. To continue shooting every day. I feel that I am no longer just taking photos. I give it thought, try different things and try to create something that comes from inside me. My main goal is to let it come to me naturally and not try to force the creativity.
International Award Winning Cheese
Did you know about the International Award winning cheese made right here in the Hudson Valley at Sprout Creek Farm?
If you haven’t sampled it. I encourage you to go to one of Adams Fairacre Farms 4 locations, check your locally owned cheese shop or better yet…this summer go take a tour at the Poughkeepsie farm where the cheese is made.
Bring a bottle of wine and some sandwiches and spend a relaxing afternoon on the farm for a picnic and take a tour of the entire cheese making process. Tours and Tastings are a great Cheese Experience at SCF. The tours are on weekends and one hour long, $25 per person. We recommend you make the most of it bring some friends and make a summer party of it! Tours are given May through October.
Perhaps you’ve already sampled Sprout Creek Farm Cheese in your favorite restaurant or at a Hudson Valley winery already! They distribute their cheese to over 50 local restaurants and many wineries in our area.
Every Friday night this season is Burger nite at SPC. There is live music and fun for the whole family. The weekly event kicks off at 5pm. So if your looking for a great local Hudson Valley activity for the family and enjoy live blue grass music this is the place to be. Check their social media and website for updates each week.
The Cheese
There are several varieties. Some are made seasonally, some are made year round. They are all made on the farm from SCF small herd of cow or goat milk. Goat Milk cheese products are seasonal. Cow milk cheese is available year round.
Toussaint – Cows’ milk cheese with a distinctive Alpine flavor and a smooth tight texture, it becomes complex and peppery with age. Aged 5-7 months.
Kinkead – Savory and sharp with a hint of pungency. Dense and creamy. Raw cows’ milk cheese, aged 6-8 months.
Bogart – Mold-ripened and aged 1 year, this raw cows’ milk cheese is semi-firm, big-bodied, open, and supple. A cheese that everyone, even a child loves.
Madeleine – AWARD WINNING raw goats’ milk cheese, though slightly goaty and salty and reminiscent of a pecorino in texture, is both delicate and herbaceous. Available from August- March. Aged 5-9 months.
Batch 35 – Savory smear-ripened raw cows’ milk cheese with a full scattering of eyes has an aromatic soft yellow paste, and a crisp coppery rind. Aged 2-4 months.
Eden – AWARD WINNING Paprika colored rind covers a semi-soft pungent paste of golden yellow. This raw cows’ milk cheese hints of butterscotch and sweet apple. 2nd place winner, American Cheese Society. Aged 3-5 months.
Margie – AWARD WINNING Sporting a white bloomy rind, and smooth, creamy paste. This buttery little wheel has a clean and delicate flavor that showcases the natural flora our farmstead milk. Aged 4-8 weeks; made from pasteurized cows’ milk.
Click and Shop Here for the online Sprout Creek Farm Market Store
Educational Farm
The purpose of SCF is to provide educational experiences for children and adults that will foster appreciation for and understanding of our place within the natural world and encourage responsibility for the future of our environment.
SCR offers programs that will reconnect people to the rich agricultural heritage of the United States. They offer an EXPERIENCE of COMMUNITY as a MODEL of PEACEFUL LIVING. These programs are in SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT, using AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES of the Farm as both setting and a starting point.
SUMMER PROGRAMS
Day Programs Boys & Girls age 6-11
Sleepover Programs Girls 10-16
Enrollment is limited to give each child maximum contact with animals and individual attention from staff. Groups bake in fully equipped kitchen, participate in animal chores and work in organic garden.
Saturday Programs – Boys & Girls Age 6-11
Seasonal programs. Spring Brings new life and baby calves and goats as well as seed planting, baking and animal care.
In Fall, as harvest comes to a close, students learn how to put the garden to rest for the winter, can fruits and vegetables and turn tomatoes into sauce.
Sponsor a Child or Program – It’s Tax deductible
Call or email Sprout Creek Farm directly or help sponsor a child or program. SCR works with Network for Good where you can designate a “Camper scholarship”. Your gift is tax deductible.
History
Sprout Creek Farm is a 200 year old working farm in Dutchess County. The SCF story began 1982, in Connecticut where a group of three school teachers searched for a way to expand a girls values and create responsibility at a girls school. in 1987, farm administrators were approached by the estate of Elise Kinkead, a long time resident of Poughkeepsie and after a period of negotiation, Miss Kinkead’s WOODFORD FARM in Lagrange was donated to the Society of the Sacred Heart to be operated as Sprout Creek Farm.
Brownie, Girls Scout troops and other ongoing reservations made it possible to develop more comprehensive programs. Today, some 2500 children visit SCF during the school year. After school, weekend and summer programs are available! To find out more and enhance your childs spiritual and learning skills contact SCF today and find out about their programs.
Photos By Melissa Tyler
Click on logo website and educational programs
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The Waterfront’s Most Unique Destination is Celebrating their 29th year, under new management and open for the season!
One of everyone’s favorite Newburgh waterfront destinations has a brand new menu and now features New York State Beers including beers from Newburgh Brewing Company. We were recently invited to sit down with the new management team and talk, sip and dine with samples from their new menu.
Gully’s is still that casual, cool, come as you are place to go on he waterfront with fantastic panoramic views of the Hudson River and Mt. Beacon. he new management team has created a brand new menu of good quality food with the preference from local companies. They’ve also added local New York State Beers on tap. Gully’s is family friendly during the day with a new kids menu and a Gastro Pub style restaurant by evening. Gully’s is re-positioning itself as the trend for Kraft Beer Gastro Pub trend get’s stronger here in the Hudson Valley. With the spectacular views and cool summertime breezes this well known pub-restaurant boat is known for…can you say you blame them for a little revamp!
BULLISH ON NEWBURGH
Gui Tepedino and Ryan Black of R Black Global are the New York City real estate development team that are managing the property this season. They are a management team that work in the hospitality arm in development. Gui handles partnerships and new business operations and Ryan specializes in construction and real estate development.
Together and friends for twelve years, they are very interested in further development in the Newburgh and Beacon area. This is just the first of many more projects to come for this savvy team. They love the history of Newburgh and the area and are committed to new opportunities and growth. Music, Art, Food and Drink are the subject of projects this dynamic duo are interested in!
NEW MENU
Gully’s by day is a casual, family place to go to get a good fresh bite to eat on the historic and scenic Hudson River. A new kids menu has been created that will feature chicken fingers and kid size burgers. The beef is is all organic and grass feed.
In the evening, Gully’s turns into a true Gastro Pub Bar on the waterfront! New York State Beers are featured on tap including Newburgh Brewing Company favorite ales: Newburgh Brown Ale and Newburgh Cream Ale. Other beers include: Ithaca Apricot Wheat ( a great Summer beer), Keegan’s Mother Milk Stout and Adirondack Bare Naked Ale and others.They will also continue to serve Corona’s, Bud and Bud Light.
Fresh and local ingredients are the two things Gully’s new menu has to offer!
Menu options include:
Little Neck Clams, Oysters, Steamers, Shrimp Cocktail and Black Angus Burgers.
Ceaser Salad with your choice of shrimp, salmon or chicken.
Salmon sandwich with garlic chives, wasabi mayo, grilled bok choy and a teriyaki drizzle with homemade chips. These chips are a great touch!
Devil on Horseback are bacon wrapped stuffed dates with blue cheese which are a real treat and go great with beer or your favorite cocktail.
Spicy Apricot Pork wings …..incredible good and falls off the bone!
Fish and chips and grilled chicken are also on the menu as well as a few other options.
Gully’s will also feature live entertainment that you have known them for every Tuesday through Sunday. Bands will start Tuesday – Saturday at 8pm.
Every Thursday Night there will be a DJ and they said they will be working with area radio station K104 on promotional theme nights as well.
Sunday is an acoustic day with the same menu listed above and acoustic music from 1-8pm.
A new website is being created so in the meantime the best place to get daily updates is on their Facebook page.
Summer is here and Gully’s and R Black Global are here to stay!
Be sure to visit one of the most popular and original destinations in Newburgh often this season on the waterfront. Gully’s will also stay open through October this year.
Gully’s – 2 Washingston Street – Newburgh
on the Historic waterfront!
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