Friday, May 27, 2011

Chamber Info Booth Now Open

Rowan Smith-Spanier of the
Chamber Information Booth
The Woodstock Chamber information booth (10 Rock City Road, Woodstock, NY 12498) opened today for the summer season. Hours of operation, now through Columbus Day, will be Fridays, 12 noon through 6 p.m., and Saturdays/Sundays, 11 a.m. through 5 p.m.

Please drop by to meet the new manager of the booth, Ms. Rowan Smith-Spanier. Rowan is a Woodstock resident and May 13 graduate of Pratt Institute's upstate campus at Utica, where she studied painting. She is pleased to be the new face of Woodstock. "I feel it's very appropriate that an art student will be representing the Colony of the Arts to visitors this summer."

The booth is a wonderful resource for visitors and newcomers to the Woodstock area. Stop by for help with lodging, dining, shopping and activities for the whole family. The booth is one of a dozen places where visitors and residents can purchase the Experience Woodstock Card, which is a passport to 100 or so special offers at select Woodstock-area restaurants, spas, performance spaces, galleries, lodging, professional services and more.

Friday, May 20, 2011

Woodstock Branch Voted TD Bank’s Friendliest

Nick Altomare, Woodstock Manager
TD Bank/Woodstock is located in a converted house at 68 Mill Hill Road. The store manager is Nick Altomare, a friendly and outgoing native of nearby Kingston. A graduate of SUNY Albany, he has been in banking for over ten years. About three years ago a friend suggested that he join TD Bank. He did so, and within six months he arrived here to manage the Woodstock branch.


This bank is the tenth largest financial services company in the nation, and has a triple “A” credit rating from Moody's. The local branch strives to position itself as a community-based bank. Nick is the president of the Woodstock Chamber of Commerce and Arts, and the bank sponsors a slew of local initiatives including the Little League, the Woodstock Farm Festival, the Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild’s Annual  5 x 7 show, the Woodstock Chamber’s Open House and the Experience Woodstock Card.

"Here Comes Summer," sculpture
by artist Ze'ev Willy Neumann
TD Bank styles itself as America’s Most Convenient Bank. It happens that the Woodstock branch is also one of the friendliest. In April their customers voted Woodstock the Number One branch in the company (of 1,250 stores from Maine to Florida), based on service provided by its employees.


One need not be a bank customer to obtain mortgages, home equity, car or personal loans.  TD Bank tries to be sensitive to their customers’ needs in the Hudson Valley, so many of the lending decisions are made locally.

A fun fact: Woodstock is the only TD Bank branch that has a sculpture on its front lawn.

~ Weston Blelock

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Woodstock's Sidewalk Sale

Saturday and Sunday, May 14 and 15, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.: Woodstock's fabulous shops and boutiques are celebrating the arrival of spring with the twice-annual Sidewalk Sale. Select stores throughout the hamlet are placing racks of clothes on the street with markdowns of 30 to 75 percent. Don't miss out!