This September marks the 100th birthday of Saugerties' Carnegie Public Library. They'll be celebrating the anniversary of Dedication Day on Saturday, September 19 with cake and ice cream, and on that Sunday afternoon, Dr. David Nasaw will lecture about Carnegie and his library-founding ways.
Remember old-fashioned pharmacies? Saugerties has one: the Village Apothecary. They compound medicines the old fashioned way, focus on wellness, and generally think outside the pill box. There's a branch in Woodstock, too.
Opus 40 has been described by Architectural Digest as "a cousin of Stonehenge and the long-since-vanished Hanging Gardens of Babylon." You can go there to explore Thursdays through Sundays, 11-5, or catch the end-of-summer celebration with Robbie Dupree and friends on September 5.
The 13th annual Saugerties Artists Studio Tour, taking place the second weekend in August, invites you into the work spaces of over three dozen participating artists. There's a kickoff reception and group show happening at Opus 40 on Friday, August 16.
The eight-week Horses In The Sun (HITS) extravaganza that happens every summer involves over $3 million in prize money and the shining stars, two- and four-legged, of the rarified world of show jumping. It's spectacular: the electric tension in the air, the massive animal athletes flying gracefully through it. This September's schedule includes the Saugerties $1,000,000 Grand Prix, considered the third leg of show jumping's Triple Crown.
Saugerties holds its Farmers' Markets each Saturday from 10-2, in the parking lot of Cahill School. You'll find seasonal fruits and vegetables, meats, poultry, fish; herbs, eggs, cheeses; breads, baked goods (including gluten free); honey, maple syrup, jams, pickles, mushrooms; plants, cut flowers; soaps, lotions, and an on-site cafe. You'll also meet some really good folks and hear some live music. SNAP/EBT cards are welcomed.
The name Saugerties was adopted in 1855. It's Dutch for "little sawyer," a nod to the area's earliest industry. Whether any of the early sawyers were especially short is not known.
A highlight of "Saugerstock," the 10-mile stretch of Route 212 between Saugerties and Woodstock, is FiberFlame Studios. You can walk in, make yourself comfy, and play to your heart's content with buttons, beads, vintage fabrics, markers, stamps, stencils, handmade papers, antique prints, inks, paints, fabric dyes, threads in every color and thickness, tiles and beach glass, brushes, sponges, tissue, and a rainbow of glazes. They also offer classes.
Saugerties is laced with communal outdoor spaces. There's the Village Beach on the Esopus and the Tina Chorvas Waterfront Park nearer the Hudson. There's the Veterans Memorial Complex at Cantine Field, the Lions Club playground, and the beautifully landscaped Seamon Park, full of chrysanthemums in season. Come play.
Saugertesians of all ages love their sports. Youth soccer and Little League baseball are beloved parts of growing up here, and kids in grades 8-12 can join the Kingston-based Hockey Club that practices at the Kiwanis Ice Arena here. The ice arena also offers youth and adult skating leagues. You can learn to kayak at Gail Porter's I Paddle New York, target shoot at the venerable Fish and Game Club, or join the Saugerties Athletic Association, which offers basketball for youth and softball, volleyball, or golf for adults. For those just visiting, this means there's often something fun to watch in the aforementioned parks.
