Raising Hope is a mentoring program that trains women to help other women achieve their goals. The Kingston-based initiative was originally designed to address the challenges women face when graduating from social service programs and being thrust back out on their own, often without a reliable support system.
In December, as Flying Cat Music closed its tenth year of presenting concerts by singer-songwriters at the Empire State Railway Museum in Phoenicia, the future of the well-attended concert series was in doubt. Tom Rinaldo and Janet Klugiewicz, who founded Flying Cat and do the vast majority of the work required, have announced that the performances will continue, with an energetic board of directors to share the effort, and a shift in venue to the larger but equally esthetic United Methodist Church in Phoenicia.
When I run into Ann Byer, usually outside the Phoenicia post office or the bank, she reels off a list of readings, concerts, films, benefits, or political events she’s been to or is thinking of going to. Usually I’m unaware of most of them, although I’m on Facebook and email, while Ann does not touch computers. When asked how she knows about everything going on in Shandaken and Woodstock, she replies, “I talk to people.”
The Shandaken town board voted on February 4 to raise the wages of paramedics in the hope of attracting more employees to the ambulance service.
“It breaks my heart when someone says, ‘We paid so much for that! I didn’t know we could get it for free.’” Judith Emilie, a volunteer with the Woodstock Loan Closet, is referring to the wheelchairs and other assistive devices available for borrowing from the little storage barn behind the rescue squad building.
Paula Dutcher, a Shandaken native, finds that being a woman gives her a positive edge in the building trade, although the presence of a female carpenter/contractor is often hard for men to process. As a mother, Jenna Rodgers, an electrician in Shandaken, appreciates the flexibility her work provides. Both of them feel the building trades are ripe for the entry of more women.
Juanie Gold and The Colony present DJs Shaman Vybez, Chuck “Da Fonk” Fishman of FSQ, and Eli “Bamboozle” of Soul Clap on Saturday, February 2, with doors opening at 7 p.m., music starting at 9. The Colony is at 22 Rock City Road in Woodstock. Tickets are $10, available at http://www.colonywoodstock.com.
The Samadhi Recovery Outreach Center rehab facility aims to be an affordable alternative for those seeking rehabilitation rooted in the principles of mindfulness, self-compassion and harm-reduction therapy. It’s launching this spring with an outreach center in Kingston. A benefit is planned for Sunday, January 27.
Much has been made of this year’s divisiveness among organizers of national women’s marches. At the rally that was part of the Woodstock march, musician Amanda Palmer compared the process to the rigors of childbirth, conflicted and bloody. Still, the work gets done.
‘We support the idea of allowing STRs, particularly if they’re owner-occupied. But there has to be a way to balance the positive aspects versus the negatives.’