Gardiner Day, the annual free celebration of “Family, Friends & Fun” in the Gardiner hamlet, is coming back for the 30th time this year, on Saturday, September 7 from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. No longer does the event need to be marketed as a “block party,” as it was in 2018, “because they took the Pavilion down and we had no place to store the food,” says Gardiner Day Committee organizer Jaynie Marie Aristeo. “What’s going to be different this year is that it’s going to incorporate Majestic Park again.”

Although he has threatened for at least a decade that “This will be my last year,” he is still back behind the captain’s wheel – or in this case, the air-conditioned guard office, making sure all is well at 15 Mulberry Street, even after his retirement from teaching.

Winning the title of Mrs. Philippines America 2019 was not about wearing the crown for New Paltz resident, Cecille Castillon-Weinstein,

The rhino statue is life-sized, close to six feet tall at the rump and about double that in length. But he’s not quite as sturdy as he looks. They’re not supposed to, but children have been climbing on him since soon after he was first installed, the kiln cooled down and closed off.

Several local teens, aged 12 to 16, who have been disciples of the Fighting Spirit Karate dojo in New Paltz, have recently been chosen to represent their entire country as an international sparring team at the British Kyokushin Karate World Tournament in London, England on October 5.

The rebuilding of the playground at Hasbrouck Park in New Paltz has been officially scheduled for Wednesday, September 25 through Sunday, September 29. The construction will be conducted under the supervision of the Village’s Department of Public Works, but will “require hundreds of volunteers,” according to Ariana Basco, assistant to the mayor and Village Board.

This Saturday, August 10 from 2 to 7 p.m., the New Paltz Youth Program 30th Birthday Party will take place at the Youth Center. “It’s free, and it’s open to everybody. Anybody can come.”

It is nothing but Peace and Love. There is “Snickers” the Yorkshire Pig, snorting up at me behind a low-mesh fence; “Delilah” the Himalayan Rabbit, her nose twitching frantically as I stick my finger toward her; “Phoenix” the All-American rooster, all prideful and irritated, strutting his stuff; “Andy” the big Morgan horse, letting me pet him through the boards of his paddock; “Elizabeth” the Nigerian dwarf goat, nose and lips against my face as I bend to pet her; “Lelo” the Shropshire sheep, unhappily set in a head-vice so she can be washed down… and “Reign” the Dutch Beltee cow.