What inspired you to start The Overlook?
Jaqueline Kellachan: A combination of things! I have had a home in Woodstock for many years. For a while I lived full time in New York City and came up to Woodstock on weekends. Both the Woodstock Times and Ed Sanders’ Woodstock Journal were windows on community to me and made me feel connected to a Woodstock that I did not know. So they were an inspiration. The past and present history of the Town of Woodstock is also an inspiration: 100+ years of people coming to this community from around the world to realize their visions and dreams. Finally, and probably most important, is being a co-owner of The Golden Notebook bookstore for the past 14 years. The bookstore is more than a place to buy books, it is a space to be seen, heard, and inspired. It is a place where you can experience community, and it is also a place that creates community and that played a big part in thinking about this project.
Scott Widmeyer: We have lost a sense of community in today’s world and I want to do everything I possibly can to revive those connections. Society is very fractured and many folks feel abandoned. On a local level spanning out over our great communities in the Catskills, we have a chance to be that spark for enlightenment and for bringing people together. The Overlook can be that catalyst. In my early newspaper days in the 70s—as editor of my college daily—I brought a new motto to our paper that went like this: “Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.” To this day, those words inspire me and I know will have a lasting impact as we build out The Overlook. I also want to thank my husband, Alan Yount, for being the creative spark to propose that we select The Overlook name for our venture. We had a dozen or so suggestions and we tested all of them before focus groups representing our coverage towns. The Overlook name was the overwhelming favorite!
Why these six communities?
Scott Widmeyer: These six towns—Hunter, Hurley, Olive, Saugerties, Shandaken and Woodstock—have long been connected by a series of two-lane highways and like many of you, we are on these roads constantly. Sometimes, we stop and shop, grab a bite to eat, see a local doctor, hit the slopes, do some fishing or take a hike. But, how often have we stopped to consider how much we have in common or maybe even what one town and its people can learn from another? The Overlook has the ability to further open those doors.
Another compelling reason that prompted us to bring The Overlook to these six towns was the growing concern that we were edging closer to becoming a media desert given the rapid decline in local news coverage in our region. On a national level, more than 1,300 communities are now considered news deserts. When this happens, you see sharp declines in voter participation, civic engagement and governance.
Jacqueline Kellachan: Geographically, they are all connected and dancing with their arms loosely around Overlook Mountain. I think that all these communities have very similar challenges today—short term rentals, affordable living, and affordable housing, environmental concerns, and the impact of climate change. Rather than dealing with these issues in silos and separately, I think the communities in The Overlook Region can maybe try to imagine a way of approaching these issues and working together. I think maybe they will have to. I hope that The Overlook can help us see each other a little better.
What’s a book, movie, or piece of art that has shaped the way you see the world?
Jacqueline Kellachan: This is not a fair question for someone who owns a bookstore. My view on the world is always somewhere between Jacque Demy’s and Michel Legrand’s film “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg,” and the novel James McBrides’ “Deacon King Kong”— which is a way of saying in the clouds (with music) and on the ground (with neighbors).
Scott Widmeyer: Books that have had a great influence on me include George Orwell’s “1984.” We certainly see the writing in this cautionary tale front and center in our nation and world today. Through my work and experiences in public affairs, the media, civil discourse and around protest, there’s been a catalyst to do all that I can to prevent us from the perils of authoritarianism.
A more recent must-read book is “The Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein which was published in 2017. Sociologist William Julius Wilson (one of my all-time champions) called Rothstein’s work “the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation.”
What’s your favorite hidden gem in the Catskills—somewhere that always makes you feel at home?
Scott Widmeyer: I always feel at home when I am walking along the streets in Saugerties. I grew up in an eastern West Virginia town just a little bigger than Saugerties, and I am reminded so much of my childhood days. In both towns, you have real community. Real people going about their day. Boys and girls heading home from school. The local cop out on the corner. And, of course, the local hardware store; the local drug store and bake shops almost as if it’s the 60s or 70s again.
Jacqueline Kellachan: I love every music venue in Woodstock so much and they all feel like home: “Levons,” “Colony,” “Bearsville Theater” but the one that qualifies as the most hidden gem to me is “Maverick Concert Hall.” It is a hundred year old intimate music barn with a cathedral quality. Listening to music in that space, in the summer, and looking out of the casement windows at all the green trees is something that I highly recommend.
What’s one unconventional or innovative approach you believe will set The Overlook apart from traditional media outlets?
Jacqueline Kellachan: The Overlook is prioritizing not only strong journalism but also the audience’s experience on the website and the newsletter. William Van Roden’s design—the layout, the colors, the font (and so many other things) are subtle but super intentional components that make The Overlook look and feel like a place in the Catskills. The Overlook is also aiming for authentic community engagement and the inclusion of community voice and lived experience. We held several community listening sessions prior to our launch and that was a start. We need to figure out how to incorporate and engage the community through events and by meeting and talking to people where they are.
Scott Widmeyer: First and foremost, we are non-profit. We are not driven by a profit motive. We will be reader-supported as well as support from philanthropy. We are providing a community service and we are giving members of our community a platform to elevate their voice as well.
