Sustainability
Here in the Mid-Hudson Valley, the most cost-effective way to lower carbon emissions is by participating in energy-efficiency programs from the region’s utility, Central Hudson, which is committed to making investments in infrastructure and technology while continuing to provide reliable, resilient, and affordable power.Through these residential programs, Central Hudson is putting money back into the pockets of customers who responsibly steward their home energy usage.
By Central Hudson
Aug 11, 2020
Tags: Sustainability Web Only Sponsored Content
Art of Business
Businesses United in Diversity (BUD) will host a one-day expo highlighting more than fifteen Black-and-minority owned businesses in Ulster County on Saturday, August 8th in the parking lot of the DMV office building located at 244 Fair Street in Uptown Kingston. The event, which will take place between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., is a partnership with the Kingston Farmer’s Market, and the brainchild of two recent Kingston High School graduates, Maggie Noe (KHS Class of 2019) and Marine Nimblette (KHS Class of 2019).
By Marie Doyon
Aug 6, 2020
Tags: Art of Business black-owned business bipoc-owned business business expo business fair Web Only Web Only
Outdoors
Instagrammable Upstate Spots are Danger Zones for Out-of-Towners
Urbanites fall foul of a tricky Upstate environment.
By Roger Hannigan Gilson
Aug 1, 2020
Tags: Outdoors upstate spots hudson valley falls
Outdoors
Once marketed as “the investment you can hug,” alpacas are both highly lucrative fiber animals and undeniably adorable. These Andean camelids are robust and relatively low maintenance thanks to their rugged natural habitat. Their downy fleece, which is said to be softer than cashmere and warmer than sheeps’ wool, can be sheared and spun to make a range of sustainable clothing and textiles. Plus it contains no lanolin and, thus, is hypoallergenic.
Although these fluffy four-leggeds originally hail from Peru, today they can be found all over the world, including at these farms right here in the Hudson Valley. Whether you’re looking to take the kids out for a fun farmy adventure or want to stock up on cold-weather textiles, these alpaca farms are a great choice.
1. Alicia Adams Alpaca | Millbrook
The 80-acre Alicia Adams farm is home to over 200 Suri alpacas. This breed is the least common of the two present in the United States (the other one being the huacaya). With their rare alpaca fleece, the Adams family designs and produces homewares, accessories, and clothing. The Adams family sticks strictly to ethical production, meaning that the alpacas are not harmed while being shorn, and any hides are from animals that died from natural causes. Although you can’t meet the alpacas behind the product, you can visit the flagship store in Millbrook to browse the latest from the Alicia Adams collection and meet the makers, or shop online.
2. Clover Brooke | Hyde Park
What began as a small, two-goat family farm in 2016 is now home to a fiber-diverse herd of goats, sheep, llamas, and alpaca—and a few barnyard cats for good measure. Clover Brooke is homestead is a haven for animal lovers, who can embark on socially distanced llama or alpaca hikes, guiding their fuzzy buddy through pastures, paddocks, and along trails before stopping at the farm store. The llamas and alpacas also participate in on-farm yoga classes, animalgrams, weddings, birthdays, and animal assisted therapy. The farm also has beehives, a hop yard, a fruit tree orchard, and berries bushes, and hosts educational workshops on homesteading topics like beekeeping and cheese-making.
3. Fluff Alpaca | Hillsdale
Home to 15 Huacaya alpacas, a llama named Trixie, a donkey named Lulu, two Icelandic horses, 20 chickens, two barn cats, and two farm dogs, Green River Hollow farm in Hillsdale is a buzzing little ecosystem that produces much of the organic fiber for Fluff Alpaca’s line of handknit products. Although Fluff has welcomed visitors on open farm days in the past, they are currently closed to the public due to the pandemic. Aside from alpaca clothing items and textiles, at their brick-and-mortar in Hudson, this family-run retailer also carries home goods, bath and beauty items, and reusable face masks. Open from Wednesday through Sunday, Fluff Alpaca products can also be ordered online for curbside pickup.
4. Shalimar Alpacas | Warwick
The name Shalimar, taken from the beautiful Mughal gardens in Pakistan, was chosen as an homage to the beauty of the alpacas in residence at the Warwick farm. The goal at Shalimar Alpaca is to blend superior breeding with high fashion for humane, wearable textiles. At this farm, alpacas are bred to have good bones and the highest quality fiber. Their luxury fiber is then used to make clothing, blankets, yarn, home goods, and stuffed animals, all of which can be purchased online. To visit the farm and get a glimpse of Shalimar’s baby alpacas schedule an tour for $5 per person.
5. Lilymoore Alpaca Farm | Pleasant Valley
The 25 alpacas at the Lilymoore Alpaca Farm in Pleasant Valley not only provide fiber for the apparel and home goods products that are sold at the farm store, but they also participate in group treks around the farm and through the woods. Leads also disinfected in between excursions to maintain the health and safety of guests during the pandemic. Appointments are required to visit both the farm and the store.
...
By Abby Foster
Jul 30, 2020
Tags: Outdoors alpaca farm outdoor tourism animal llama Evergreen Web Only
Chronogrammies
The 2020 Chronogrammies winners in the Wedding category.
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: Chronogrammies weddings
Chronogrammies
The 2020 Chronogrammies winners in the Retail category.
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: Chronogrammies
Chronogrammies
The 2020 Chronogrammies winners in the Fashion/Design category.
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: Chronogrammies
Chronogrammies
Whether you’re going to be showing up early in sweats to do your own floral arranging or you want a seamless, stress-free wedding package where you don’t have to lift a finger, our readers concur: Red Maple Vineyard is a fabulous place to tie the knot.
“It’s definitely a magical spot,” says Shay Stone, who came home from wandering the globe to help her parents transform the West Park winery, a one-time dairy farm operated by the Christian Brothers, into a boutique wedding venue. “It’s a breathtaking spot in the first place, and we’ve renovated and transformed it.”
Stone’s parents, Gary and Liz, met as students at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. “They started their own catering company when I was five, so I grew up around events and hospitality,” she recalls. “As they got into doing weddings, they were looking to expand. They found this lovely old dairy-farm-turned-winery where a guy named Lou had been growing Chardonnay grapes for 20 years and breathed new life into the land.”
The family replanted the vineyard and added a three-acre vegetable garden, which supplies much of the produce for catered onsite events. “We source as much as we can from right here on the property, from side dishes to the eggs for the wedding cakes,” Stone says. “This year we’re launching our wine and cider. We’re excited to see what people think!” The cider is made onsite with apples from neighboring Maynard Farms. And maple sap from the property’s trees is made into craft beer at Kingston’s Great Life Brewing and then served at events. Full circle.
The ideal wedding is about so much more than the sum of its parts, and the hospitality at Red Maple Vineyard is all sincerity, sweetness, and warmth, letting couples feel fully at home on their special day. “We’re all about giving people the freedom to create,” says Stone. “We’ve got the venue, the catering, the rentals and the talent to make it all seamless for you. It’s a labor of love, and it shows in every way.”
Future couples will enjoy a new reception center designed to “bring the outdoors in,” along with the venue’s commitment to zero food waste and their superb Hudson Valley rustic-chic backdrops. “Our whole philosophy, from gardening to hospitality, is regenerative,” says Stone. “It’s all about positive creative energy. We’re so grateful to our team and our couples and glad to be part of this community.”
...
By Anne Pyburn Craig
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: Chronogrammies wedding venue farm wedding barn wedding rustic wedding
The Future Is Now
Now is the time to follow through on ideas we’ve had for years but not acted on.
By Melissa Everett
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now
The Future Is Now
A pilot program in Hudson associated with Andrew Yang’s nonprofit is going to give away free money.
By Dalvin Aboagye
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now
The Future Is Now
The benefits of remote work extend beyond workers and employers to the environment.
By John Lyons
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now
The Future Is Now
The community economics visionary explains how to move our money from Wall Street to Main Street.
By Michael H. Shuman
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now
The Future Is Now
Schools across the region—from kindergarten to higher ed—are questioning long-held assumptions.
By Katie Navarra
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now education
The Future Is Now
The Good Work Institute believes the way forward is by aligning around a clear framework of values.
By Helene Lesterlin
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now
The Future Is Now
Between March 5 and May 31, 260 cities on six continents had expanded municipal public space.
By Cynthia Nikitin
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now land use
The Future Is Now
The renewables sector has shown that it can be an engine of well-paid, community-based jobs.
By Cordelia Schiller
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now
The Future Is Now
Scenic Hudson’s initiatives across the region present a model for collaborative engagement.
By Brian K. Mahoney
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now land use
The Future Is Now
Three local changemakers explain their ideas for responsive, resilient, hyperlocal wellness.
By Wendy Kagan
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now
The Future Is Now
A big thank you to the 2020 sponsors of our Future is Now section.
Architecture + Construction, PLLC / A+C
A+C is a NYC and Hudson Valley New York based architecture firm founded by Joshua Pulver in 2005. We pursue work of varied size, type and aesthetic. Clarity in communication, precision and creativity are constants through our process of managing and exceeding client expectations.
Ashokan Architecture
We are a full-service architectural and interior design firm located in Woodstock, New York, in the heart of the Hudson River Valley. Our work brings state-of-the-art design and building technology to the practical challenges of getting good buildings completed on time, and on budget. We aim for subtle and playful sophistication using American vernacular forms and local traditions, but 21st Century ideas and tools for living, working, and using our buildings. Both our residential and commercial work tend to be literate, friendly, livable and generous in detail, our design approach practical rather than conceptual in nature.
Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing
The Dharmakaya Center is a haven for those who want to open their hearts, awaken their minds and revitalize their bodies. In a natural spiritual setting, the Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing provides a wide range of practices drawn from ancient wisdom, for all levels of interest, in order to cultivate physical and emotional wellbeing in the greatest number of people.
Healing Path to Health
Healing Path to Health discovers your balance from within, in a more holistic, organic and intuitive approach that taps into your own resources. We’ll start with your own internal compass and see where the journey takes you to healing. Discover your wellness from within. Reflexology | Reiki | Raindrop Treatment | Medical Intuitive Healing | Hypnosis | Integrative Wellness Consultations | Past Life Regression
H Houst & Son
Start your projects off right with quality tools, products and expert advice from our True Value Hardwarians. We have the know-how to answer your questions, assist with projects, and find ways to make your home maintenance and improvement ventures a whole lot easier. Whether you tackle projects weekly, monthly or yearly, True Value is your one stop destination for all your hardware needs.
Kerns Landscape & Nursery
In 2020, we now have a large and very unique nursery, where the environment you shop in is like a well cared for garden – not a supermarket. More than that, we are a nursery for gardeners because the plant selection we offer makes it worth coming from a good distance away.
Ryan & Ryan Insurance Brokers, Inc.
Since 1958, one family of insurance agents in Ulster County and the Hudson Valley has become synonymous with putting the customer first; the Ryan family. Ryan & Ryan Insurance continues that 60 year tradition by being your hometown, independent insurance agent. We put the needs of our "Customers First". We respect and value each other. We work as one team. We are committed to building lifetime relationships with all of our customers.
Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art
Located at the State University of New York at New Paltz, The Dorsky Museum comprises more than 9,000 square feet of exhibition space distributed over six galleries. The museum was launched more than 65 years ago by a dedicated committee of faculty members to enhance the teaching mission of the university. Originally known as the College Art Gallery, The Dorsky Museum was dedicated in 2001. The opening of The Dorsky Museum transformed the original College Art Gallery into one of the leading art museums in the region.
Stacey Schaffer
Reiki Master Teacher ~ Holistic Health Coach ~ Whole Foods Chef ~ I’ve been a Holistic Health and Reiki Practitioner since 2002, but have been around alternative medicine my whole life. Throughout my childhood, both my parents instilled in me the important values that I apply to my treatments, such as the importance of integrity for well-being. Every day, I strive to both educate and heal my patients, empowering them to live better and healthier lives.
...
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now future is now
The Future Is Now
Self Care for Resilience-Building
Singularity Botanicals is an African-American-owned business producing medicinal plants and multifaceted training programs in their cultivation and use. It was launched in Chester, Pennsylvania, which founder Pamela Boyce Simms describes as “a small city with grit, heart and indomitable spirit that has also been a toxic dumping ground for the Mid-Atlantic region for decades.” The project has developed a network of growing sites in urban church and school yards, as well as rural sites in the Hudson Valley, where Boyce Simms has lived and calls home.
Facing the host of environmental and social inequities in their midst, including health care disparities and climate change, the founding group set about taking control of their health, economics, and consciousness with a unified strategy. They noticed the ivy and burdock, plants with purifying value in traditional Chinese medicine, grew abundantly on the outskirts of the city. In 2019, they created the business that helps residents “re-skill” as herb cultivators while promoting “self-care sovereignty.” And they established a business model that is seamlessly connected with personal growth through a sociocratic form of governance.
The business operates as a flexible subscription service for monthly bundles—tinctures, teas, exercises and practices, growing protocols for medicinal plants, daily meditations, and recipes. All revenues go toward distributing these goods and services to people who can’t afford them through a nonprofit arm, the African Diaspora Coalition. Hundreds of packages of respiratory detox and de-stress tinctures and teas have already been distributed to help Chester residents withstand the pandemic.
When the pandemic hit, Singularity’s urban buildings in Chester were closed to workers. The organization pivoted to expand rural growing including a new site at Seed Song Farm in Kingston. Boyce Simms attributes their pivoting skill to the company’s cultural “emphasis on personal transformation as well as an adaptive business model.”
...
By Melissa Everett
Jul 1, 2020
Tags: The Future Is Now botanicals herbal remedy wildcrafted resilience wild foraged foraging future is now
Weddings
Stuck in limbo, popular Hudson Valley wedding venues are dealing with their closures by finding alternative income
In the past decade, the Hudson Valley has become a hot destination for weddings, offering venues in every flavor from American pastoral to industrial chic. The industry has become a huge driver of economic revenue for the region, with the average Hudson Valley wedding costing $57,501. In addition to the money that the bride and groom spend on the venue, caterers, florist, and other vendors, the festivities bring droves of out-of-town guests to the area. These visitors often turn the wedding weekends into a getaway, staying in local hotels, shopping with small businesses, and eating out at restaurants. With the lion’s share of 2020 weddings postponed or cancelled, the local economy is poised to take a hit.
While venues are precluded from reopening for onsite nuptials until Phase 4, they are preparing to come out of their months-long hiatus in other ways and working to consider what the future of weddings will look like.
Lambs Hill in Fishkill and Hayfield in Green County are the only two venues we spoke with that are scheduled to move forward with weddings in August, while the rest have put off events till winter or the coming year.
“If we’re legally allowed and we feel like it’s safe and a couple is super eager then we’re always eager to accommodate our couples and their desires and wishes,” says Christiana Arnold, owner of Hayfield, which had 12 weddings postponed and three canceled.
Across the river, Lambs Hill has postponed five weddings, one of which switched from spring to fall. “We know how important that day is for couples that plan months, sometimes even years in advance, and we would never want them to cancel if we could accommodate other options,” says Kristen Caputo, director of marketing and communications at Lambs Hill. "We have created different packages for our couples to accommodate their needs and still remain safe and healthy through the whole process. We also have the flexibility to use many of our beautiful outdoor spaces."
Repurposing Spaces
While these venues have postponed nuptials, many are pivoting to use their spaces for alternative events that comply with social distancing protocols.
The cozy Forsyth B&B in Kingston, which usually hosts 10 to 12 events between May and October, has postponed most of this year’s weddings to 2021, with only one outright cancelation. "We will of course be following all recommended guidelines in order to host the safest events possible," owner Tamara Ehlin says. "Our space is a more intimate venue so we may require that the host limit the guest list if social distancing is in effect."
This year, the dual purpose bed & breakfast/venue will focus on its roots as an inn. The Forsyth is just a block from the historic Rondout waterfront and guest room has a mix of modern chic and vintage styling. The venue has re-conceptualized their barn to be a guest lodging, which allows them to focus on longer stays of two weeks or more while being safe for both guests and staff. The barn is completely self contained with a private entrance as well as a small kitchenette.
Similarly, Millbrook Vineyards and Winery, which has postponed six weddings to the spring of 2021, will return to a focus on wine sales and tastings this year.
“When tastings resume, the loft will be used in this capacity,” says Kelly Holliman, marketing and customer relations manager at Millbrook Vineyards. “We will of course, limit the number of people in the loft at a given time, and we have protection shields installed at all the tasting bars.”
At Lambs Hill in Beacon, the Equestrian Suite is usually included in event packages as lodging for newlyweds, but with no weddings taking place, the guest room is being rented out through Airbnb. The venue is also using this time off to spiff up the grounds and undertake some construction projects, like increasing the size of their poolside deck and building a pavilion.
“We also created two additional stone patio areas and created a swing garden with cedar swings and concrete bistro tables made by the owner,” says Caputo. “We also have a full time gardener who is constantly cultivating her babies (plants and flowers).”
Hayfield is a rustic venue that offers pastoral field and barn weddings with charm in the Catskills, with magical views of the mountains. Arnold describes the venue to be more of a passion project rather than a main source of income, so they have been able to withstand the closures.
"We are in a more flexible situation than many of the other venues I've talked to. That's why we were happy to give any 2021 to 2020 couples," she says. "We're just really lucky we never max out our season anyway. We always leave some wiggle room, which served us really well this year because we didn't have every weekend to think about, just a handful of events."
Looking Forward
Holliman, Caputo, and Ehlin believe that future events will likely stray from the average wedding size of 131 people in favor of more intimate events. “The pandemic and social unrest has certainly made all of us re-evaluate our priorities,” says Ehlin. “So many people are and will be planning smaller, less costly events for just family and close friends, from elopements to weddings for a few dozen people.”
Arnold, on the other hand, actually believes that guest lists are likely to get bigger as a response to months of social distancing and self-isolation. "I really believe people are going to be eager to celebrate and to get together to see each other and be a part of joyful situations as much as possible," she says.
Though it’s been a hard season, venues owners feel hopeful about the future.
“Unfortunately, there are people that have had the worst experiences in the last six months, and illness is never something to be taken lightly,” says Arnold. “I’m very hopeful. I believe in science and a vaccine will be developed and hopefully people will be respectful of the community and take precautions.”
...
By Nikki Donohue
Jun 18, 2020
Tags: Weddings covid-19 Web Only
