2017 Green Woodstock

The Woodstock area is welcoming visitors this spring with a festival of Earth-friendly events. On Saturday, April 29th,  The Ashokan Center ("celebrating 50 years of outdoor education") hosted the 2017 Ashokan Watershed Conference. The program included a full day of presentations and workshops for adults: "Building Sustainable Communities in a Changing Environment."

It also offered a Stream Explorers Youth Conference, geared for children ages 8 to 14:

• Stream Dynamics: Fun with the Stream Table
• Getting to Know Your Macroinvertebrates
• Cathedral Gorge Hike:

1. Gorge Exploration
2. Water Quality Sampling
3. Riparian Area Flora and Fauna
4. Art of Journaling

On Friday, April 28th, Woodstock observed Arbor Day with a special ceremony on the Woodstock Village Green. And the previous Saturday, April 22nd, the Woodstock Environmental Commission partnered with Sunflower Natural Foods Market to promote Earth Day awareness about solar solutions, gardening and landscaping best practices, composting and recycling, Earth-friendly building, safe hiking and other outdoor activities, and a new repair café in Woodstock. 

2015 Women's Woodstock Cycling Grand Prix

Martin Ernst Bruhn and his team are bringing the third annual Women's Woodstock Cycling Grand Prix to Woodstock on Saturday, May 2.

The WWCGP is a one-day competitive cycling event consisting of two women's-only bicycle races on a national caliber course. The Pro 1/2/3 is set to begin on Saturday morning at 9:10. Cyclists will depart from Woodstock and wind 60.3 miles through the Woodstock, Saugerties and Phoenicia areas, with an elevation gain/loss of 3,096 feet. A second race, the Category 3/4, will be launched at 9:20 a.m. Saturday and go 32.5 miles.

Bruhn's mission is to "highlight the equal sportsmanship and athleticism of females in the male dominated sport of cycling." Proceeds from this event will benefit Raising HOPE, The Bowery Mission of New York City, and Play to Live.org.

There is also a Family Fun Ride on Saturday morning of 6.2 miles, where the focus will be on bicycling safety and community involvement.

Course maps, further information and regular updates can be found at http://wwcgp.weebly.com and https://www.facebook.com/WWCGP2015.

World-Class Jazz @ the KJ

With quite the array of entertainment from which to choose last night in Woodstock, I went with Grammy-winner Roswell Rudd and his quartet at the Kleinert/James Center for the Arts. Mr. Rudd, trombonist extraordinaire, was in fine form, as were Ken Filiano on bass and Lafayette Harris on piano. Filling in for Sunny Kim, vocalist, was a very gifted Heather (couldn't quite catch her last name, but I'm sure we'll be hearing much more from her). My favorite tune of the evening was "Funky Little Sweet Thing," dedicated to Heather's son, August, who will celebrate his first birthday on 8/18.

If you missed the performance but would like to catch up with the artists, including producer Verna Gillis, check out the Roswell Rudd website.