What they said, at the Bookfest
The 2019 Woodstock Bookfest featured, as usual, smart panels, bright speakers, and festive parties. I am able to report on a sampling of events, along with my favorite quotes from presenters.
Woodstock Times
Sections
Chogyi’s time
No legend in the making is impervious to the first gush of early praise. But a roster of remarkable players have much to say on behalf of Chogyi Lama so we’ll have to gamble on his humility holding up. Thursday night, April 4, Chogyi will begin his evening with an acoustic set at Colony Woodstock, 22 Rock City Road, featuring Daniel Littleton and local phenom singer Olivia Gabriel, before leading his own full band in a set.
To Echo Lake: Fathers and sons
Lore surrounding Echo Lake is plentiful. The legendary fly fisherman and author Ed Van Put cites the first written words about this mountaintop lake in an 1823 article by James Pierce in the American Journal of Science and Arts. “… at a great elevation above the Hudson, a deep body of water one mile in circumference called Shues lake is situated, and is environed by an amphitheater of wild, rocky, and steep mountains. It contains trout of large size…”
Woodstock Library offers patrons six-fold return on investment, says director
For every dollar spent on the library, a $5.95 value is returned in services.
Woodstock Library trustees postpone architect’s agreement; emotions still running high
Woodstock Library trustees postponed signing a proposed $585,000 contract with architect Stephen Tilly of Dobbs Ferry as they begin planning a fundraising campaign. The board also heard a mixture of public comments ranging from calls to step back, urging more transparency and encouragement to start the building project.
Moving by muscle — Active transportation can reduce climate change
This article is the third in a series on how people in our area are responding to the environmental imperatives outlined in Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming.
No closing set for West Hurley school sale
Following the Town of Hurley’s March 18 town hall meeting at the West Hurley Firehouse, where a standing-room-only crowd of local residents came out to express concerns and seek answers regarding the long-pending sale and development of the closed West Hurley School into condominiums, Hurley Supervisor John Perry sent a letter expressing his community’s concerns to Onteora School District Superintendent Victoria McLaren.
Jacki Lyden interviews Reema Zaman at Bookfest
The author of I Am Yours, just out from Amberjack Publishing, Zaman will be the keynote speaker at the 10th annual Woodstock Bookfest on Saturday, March 30, at 8 p.m. at the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts. Zaman will be interviewed by former NPR war correspondent Jacki Lyden, herself the author of a memoir, Daughter of the Queen of Sheba (Penguin, 1998).
Lacey Schwartz Delgado, in her own right
Lacey Schwartz Delgado’s narrative runs squarely through Ulster County and along fault lines of race and community that have informed her work as a filmmaker and her interest in using the arts to make an impact on issues she cares about. Delgado tells her story in her 2014 film Little White Lie which aired on the PBS documentary film series “Independent Lens.”
Community solar projects getting up and running
Solar Generation, a company that started in Woodstock and now has its office just outside Kingston, is in the process of building several community arrays. Owner Paul McMenemy said two projects in the Saugerties area are close to obtaining permits and are expected to be operational by late summer, available only to Central Hudson customers. Two arrays in NYSEG’s territory are also in the works but will not be completed until next year.