Posted inCommunity Overlook

Local Events Mark America’s 250th With Fireworks, Music, and Parades

Celebrate the holiday weekend with fireworks after the annual Saugerties Stallions fireworks baseball game, start a new tradition at Phoneicia’s touch-a-truck bazaar, or attend a foot-stomping tribute to Woody Guthrie in Woodstock. Those are just some of the plans during a jam-packed slate of events to mark American’s 250th birthday this weekend. It’s also worth […]

Posted inNews Overlook

Ashokan Watershed Conference Focuses on Flood Preparedness

Flood preparedness is the focus of the 2026 Ashokan Watershed Conference, a program that will include three library presentations, a guided stream walk, and technical training for municipal officials. The conference, titled “Summit to Stream: Building Watershed Resilience Together,” will explore how water moves through the Catskills’ mountainous landscape and what that means for local […]

Posted inEnvironment Overlook

Native Planting Program Offers Free Help to Streamside Landowners

Eligible streamside landowners in the Ashokan Reservoir watershed can receive free help planting native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers under a program meant to reduce erosion, improve habitat, and protect water quality. The Catskill Streams Buffer Initiative is available through the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program, a partnership among Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County, the […]

Posted inNews Overlook

Onteora Names 2026 Valedictorian, Salutatorian, and Principal’s Award Recipient

Onteora High School announced its 2026 valedictorian, salutatorian, and Principal’s Award recipient on Wednesday, with all three students planning to pursue STEM fields in college. Valedictorian Shelby Buryk, of West Hurley, will graduate with an Advanced Regents Diploma with Distinction and the New York State Seal of Biliteracy in French. She is the treasurer of […]

Posted inNews Shandaken

Long-Stalled Plastics Bill Draws Support After NY Lawmakers Soften Key Sections

Shandaken conservationist Karen Lee said she remains hopeful that a long-stalled state effort to restrict plastic packaging is moving forward, even after lawmakers softened key sections of the proposal this week. “They’re softening the bill to get something on the books,” said Lee, 66, a member of the town’s Conservation Advisory Council who has lobbied […]

Posted inBooks Overlook

Peter Pan’s Catskills Connection Highlighted in New Essay Collection

A new essay collection published by Purple Mountain Press highlights an unexpected connection between the Catskills and one of literature’s most enduring characters: Peter Pan. “Peter Pan in the Catskills and Other Historical Essays,” released last month, gathers 33 essays first published in Catskill Tri-County Historical Views, a journal of the Gilboa Museum and Juried […]

Posted inCommunity Woodstock

Woodstock Teen Advances to Quarterfinals in Bob Ross Art Contest

A national art competition inspired by Bob Ross has brought a Woodstock teenager within striking distance of the semifinals. Rose Mills, 13, is competing in the quarterfinals of Bob Ross’s America’s Most Artistic Kid Competition, where the top public vote-getter advances to the next round. The contest’s winner will receive $20,000, appear on a special […]

Posted inNews Woodstock

Woodstock Jewish Congregation Launches Support Program for Immigrant Families

The Woodstock Jewish Congregation has launched a volunteer-driven program to support immigrant families facing detention, financial strain and other hardships. The initiative comes as federal immigration enforcement operations have drawn national attention. This week, federal officials announced the end of a high-profile immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota that resulted in thousands of arrests and sparked […]

Posted inCommunity Woodstock

Juneteenth Marked in Woodstock With Food, Art—and a Call to Action

Woodstock celebrated Juneteenth, the day three years after the Emancipation Proclamation that America’s last enslaved people learned they were free, with poetry, music and, great food. “Writing is a release for everything that we are absorbing in this time,” said poet Khe Charles, a speaker at the Village Green event, which included a miniature concert. […]

Posted inNews Overlook

Village Apothecary Weighs Ending Loss-Making Scrips, Citing `Predatory Reimbursement Practices’

Village Apothecary, Woodstock’s independent pharmacy, is telling some customers that it can’t survive if it keeps filling the 15% of prescriptions that it sells at a loss, asking them to consider paying for medicine out of pocket, using a big-box outlet, or buying a store membership to get discounted prices.  In an email reviewed by […]

Posted inCommunity Olive

Olive Free Library Hosts Fourth Annual Fair

The Olive Free Library celebrated its fourth annual Library Fair on June 7 with live music, a bustling plant sale, and a performance by juggler and beatboxer “Jester Jim,” drawing families and community members for a day of entertainment and connection. Jester Jim’s high-energy set—featuring juggling, beatboxing, and comedy—was a standout. Many attendees called it […]

Posted inArt

Where Stone Remembers: Brunel Park Reimagined

The 19th-century French immigrant portrait photographer Emile Brunel churned clumps of concrete in preparation for his Indigenous-inspired sculptures, influenced by his time traveling through the western states. After immigrating to the United States in 1904 in search of frontier adventure, Brunel supported himself as a nomadic artist and later a commercial photographer, documenting the lives […]

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