Beauty & Fashion
From Diplomat's Daughter to Artisan Ambassador, Adolophine Lukabu Sheeley Is a Self-Made Design Diplomat
The daughter of a Congolese diplomat, Kerhonkson resident Adolophine Lukabu Sheeley has built a fair trade, direct-sourced online boutique selling authentic jewelry, bags, textiles and decor made by African artisans.
By Anne Pyburn Craig
May 30, 2019
Tags: Beauty & Fashion fashion textiles african fashion adolophine Web Only
Outdoors
As progress continues on the Kingston Greenline project, residents and visitors are gaining a newly interconnected city.
One of the great bonuses of urban life is the ability to do all of the things, meet all of the people and have all of the fun without being tethered to two tons of automobile. But 20th-century car worship didn’t make walkability a priority, and urban centers everywhere have paid the price, Kingston very much included. Its three major neighborhoods have long felt almost like separate communities.
Several years ago, the city and county joined forces with the Kingston Land Trust to begin developing a 13.5-mile network of linear parks, bike lanes, urban trails, and complete streets to connect Kingston’s recreational, cultural, historic, and commercial assets with attractive, user-friendly trailways for walkers and bikers.
“People had been eyeing the upper Kingston Point rail line that goes past Rondout Gardens and tunnels under the Hasbrouck intersection for a long time,” says Ted Griese, Kingston Land Trust operations manager. “From that energy came the concept of a Greenline. We realized that the rail trails formed a hub that would work as a non-motorized transit system.”
In 2014, a conceptual plan was developed: the Greenline would connect with county rail trails, the Hudson River Valley Greenway, and the Empire State Trail (then, barely a gleam in Governor Cuomo’s eye, now scheduled for completion in 2020).
“We’re tackling each segment as its own animal, and down the road, it will all come together,” Griese says. “There has been some opposition from rail supporters to pulling up the track, and we understand the sentiment, but within the city limits it seems unlikely that rail will be coming back anytime soon. When you experience it on the ground, the city’s a lot more compact, walkable and bikeable than people realize, and people are loving it. We recently got done re-grading the section from Midtown to the Kingston Plaza, and every time we post about it people say how pleased they are.”
The Kingston Greenline, besides connecting the city’s assets—making it possible to walk from dinner on the Rondout to a show at UPAC, or from a Midtown apartment to the supermarket—will connect to the northern end of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail leading to Rosendale and New Paltz and from there to the Walkway Over The Hudson. The western end will connect to the O&W/Hurley Rail Trail and the Ashokan Rail Trail, slated for a grand opening this May.
“This spring our main focus is fundraising for the Hasbrouck/Delaware Parklet, a small green space near that intersection that was all overgrown with brambles, useless, and ugly,” says Griese. “It’s small, but there’s potential for a community gathering space, and there hasn’t been a park in that neighborhood. We’ve cleaned an old railway tunnel, and you can walk through it now. Bit by bit—cleanups, hardscape, plantings—the pieces are coming together, and I think people are going to be more and more amazed. There are bustling urban parts, peaceful walks where I’ve seen all kinds of wildlife, and eventually there will be benches and informational kiosks. It’s taking shape—Kingston Point is finished, Midtown is usable, and by this fall we’re going to be releasing a whole new map with our much more solidified system.”
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By Anne Pyburn Craig
Apr 25, 2019
Tags: Outdoors rail train kingston greenline kingston kingston land trust Web Only
Beauty & Fashion
Bored with your closet? Tired of mainstream fast fashion? Head up to Catskill to experience the creative styling at Factory & Main, a design cooperative and slow fashion studio, where Tsia Carson and Sirpa Cowell have joined forces to make ethical threads—and are having an absolute blast doing it.
Both women, experienced designers, had dreamed of creating original clothing, but didn’t want their visions defined by retail buyers. “I love seeing my designs on women’s bodies. I love making clothing that women can feel comfortable and confident in,” says Carson. “I work with small boutiques and I love my stockists, but there is a lot of churn in retail fashion right now, and it’s hard for them to work with tiny orders and little brands. Selling online works better for that model. But having our own location as a collective may be the best arrangement yet.”
Cowell, born and raised in Finland, fell in love with the US and relocated to New England in 2005. In the US, she continued an already-established design career with, among a long list of other gigs, a position as head of home products design at Garnet Hill and another as a freelance consultant for Ikea Sweden, before moving to Greene County in 2017 to open the boutique.
Carson, a fifth-generation New Yorker, lived in Hawaii for years and still splits her time between Chatham and Honolulu, where she launched her own line several years ago. Her degree is in the performing arts, and she’s authored books on design and worked extensively in building interactive user-experience systems for museums and libraries.
Introduced by a mutual friend at Hudson River Exchange, the two found they shared a mindset: both wanted to do sustainable, small-batch production of comfortable top-quality clothing in a collaborative setting. And when Cowell emailed Carson asking her if she wanted in on Factory & Main, Carson jumped at the chance.
“Sirpa had the factory space, and I had a barn full of fabric,” she says. “We’ve got the sampling room, cutting space, photo studio, and retail space; we have a third designer joining us in May; and we’re meeting with a possible fourth on Friday.”
Even with just the two of them, you’ll find variety on the racks. “Comfort is a value we share, and we both love prints, but my work tends to be more minimalist and Scandinavian,” Cowell says. “Whereas I am fascinated by aloha-wear,” Carson says. “You could say my stuff is a little louder. I bring these colors in sometimes that make Sirpa’s eyes pop. We’ve started creating a few home goods together. It’s so liberating to work this way, to have somebody there to ask, ‘how’s this?’ and get feedback. It gives me the opportunity to experiment with things I’d never try.”
In adding members to the cooperative, the team will add diversity but “maintain an appeal to the same customers,” according to Cowell. “There will be a certain consistency of style, but more importantly, shared values. You’re not going to walk in here and find polyester or anything made by slave labor, not ever.”
The project has a feeling of serendipity to it. “We are literally a factory on the corner of Factory and Main, the intersection of the maker movement and the Main Street movement,” says Cowell. “We have the Catskill Mill right behind us, and they’re waitlisted before they even open; there are new restaurants all over the place, and Lumberyard. And people who love fine clothing do like to be able to come in and feel the fabric and try a few things on. After that, they may buy from you online, but they like to be able to come in and touch the work.”
Those who do so at Factory & Main are favorably impressed. “Love love love this sweet shop,” says an online reviewer. “So rare to find such high quality heirloom clothing. Found perfect gift for my wife, affordable and unique.”
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By Marie Doyon
Apr 25, 2019
Tags: Beauty & Fashion slow fashion fashion boutique clothing clothing designer factory & main catskill Web Only
Holiday Events
From a train ride and Easter egg hunt to a craft beer festival, here are 8 fun Hudson Valley events to check out in April.
By Gina Pepitone and Shrien Alshabasy
Apr 1, 2019
Tags: Holiday Events events Hudson Valley
Shopping
Ulster County-Based Company Between the Sheets Makes Ethical Lingerie & Loungewear
Ulster County-based lingerie and loungewear company Between the Sheets makes ethical and environmentally sustainable intimate wear.
By Marie Doyon
Feb 13, 2019
Tags: Shopping sustainable clothing slow fashion Web Only
Outdoors
Bigfoot Researchers of the Hudson Valley Band Together to Gather Evidence
As a teenager, Gayle Beatty heard a distinctive, unrecognizable scream while camping one night the woods. In 2011, she heard it again on the Animal Planet show "Finding Bigfoot," and ever since has been on a mission to gather evidence of the existence of Bigfoot and to educate others.
By Anne Pyburn Craig
Feb 13, 2019
Tags: Outdoors bigfoot sasquatch Web Only
Outdoors
The Monticello Resort and Indoor Water Park is Set to Open in March 2019
In March 2019, The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Water Park will open its doors. The new Sullivan County attraction will be the largest indoor water park in New York State, offering a two-acre, four-season experience with an impressive array of slides and rides.
By Anne Pyburn Craig
Jan 24, 2019
Tags: Outdoors water park waterpark amusement park
Outdoors
New York State currently has 110 rail trails totaling 1,152 miles, with another 683 miles of railbed identified as “potential.” The plan, laid out by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2017 and funded to the tune of $200 million, will create the largest non-motorized transit option in the US. Here are some of the rail train connections and expansions coming to the Mid-Hudson Valley.
By Anne Pyburn Craig
Jan 18, 2019
Tags: Outdoors rail trail Web Only
Art of Business
CO, a coworking facility in Rhinebeck, NY offers a clean, open-plan space for individual work and team projects, fostering an environment of productivity, collaboration, and inspiration.
By Anne Pyburn Craig
Jan 12, 2019
Tags: Art of Business Web Only Sponsored Content
Weddings
On November 17, Lumberyard, Catskill's lynchpin cultural, hosted its very first wedding. With ethereal visions and a late autumnal color palette, Lumberyard's Theater/Ballroom was transformed into a sylvan wonderland for the wedding, with the help and donated services of a handful of local Greene County wedding vendors.
By Marie Doyon
Jan 10, 2019
Tags: Weddings wedding venue venue with lodging Web Only Sponsored Content
Beauty & Fashion
This Dutchess Nonprofit Employs Women Recovering from Addiction
Unshattered is a nonprofit located in Hopewell Junction that teaches women recovering from addiction how to sew and employs them making upcycled handbags, totes, and makeup kits.
By Karen Maserjian Shan
Jan 1, 2019
Tags: Beauty & Fashion unshattered addiction rehabilitation
Outdoors
Workshops & Resources for Beginners
This January, Mid-Hudson Adirondack Mountain Club will launch a series of introductory cross-country skiing workshops.
By Phillip Pantuso
Jan 1, 2019
Tags: Outdoors cross-country skiing winter sports
Weddings
We've rounded up our top Hudson Valley wedding vendor picks for 2019, plus asked industry insiders for some pro tips on choosing the right vendor for your big day.
By Chronogram Staff
Jan 1, 2019
Tags: Weddings wedding vendor wedding tips
Entertaining
January happenings around the Hudson Valley.
By Chronogram Staff
Jan 1, 2019
Tags: Entertaining
Outdoors
Got some time to kill? Opt for one of these six hour-long hikes, which will have you up, admiring the view, and back to the car in no time. Difficulties range from easy to strenuous and technical.
By Eric Ortner
Dec 27, 2018
Tags: Outdoors hiking quick hike fast hike Web Only Evergreen
