Kaatscast: the Catskills Podcast

In late September, the basketball court at Shandaken's Glenbrook Park serves as a community dance floor, where area residents and visitors are transported through music to eastern Europe. This year marks the third anniversary of the  Balkan Mountains Music Festival. Hear from organizers Beth Waterman, Max Fass, and Samantha Awand-Gortel about this festive Catskills tradition.

Thanks to our sponsors: Briars & Brambles Books, The Mountain Eagle, the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway, and Hanford Mills Museum.

If you'd like to contribute, please join our listener supporters here!

Photo courtesy of Carol Seitz.

Late last year, and 20 episodes ago, Michael DiBenedetto joined us in the studio and made a convincing case for copper bullets over lead, citing collateral damage to our Catskills bald eagles. On today's show, we reconnected with Michael -- in Ukraine -- where he's volunteering as a driver with an organization called Road to Relief. Michael drives a truck in the Catskills, too, making deliveries for his company, Vly Mountain Spring Water. That's given him some preparation for the mission at hand, but driving on the front lines of Donbas, Michael's front and center in a war that's a year-and-a-half on, with no end in sight. Also hear from a Ukrainian nurse and translator on Michael's team of relief workers. Plus, a special song by singer/songwriter David Rovics.

Many thanks to our sponsors: Briars & Brambles Books, The Mountain Eagle, the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, Ulster Savings Bank, and Hanford Mills Museum.

At the core of "Leave No Trace" are 7 principles that provide a framework of minimum impact practices for safe and sustainable experiences in nature. Moe Lemire is a licensed outdoor guide and a LNT master educator. We joined him at the epitome of a "high-use" spot -- Kaaterskill Falls -- to learn more about planning for and engaging in minimally-impactful Catskills excursions.

Many thanks to our sponsors:

Ulster Savings Bank, Briars and Brambles Books, Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway, Hanford Mills Museum, and the Mountain Eagle.

Thanks also to our listener-supporters!

Nearly a century ago, famed photographer and innovator Emile Brunel purchased Boiceville's Brown Hotel and transformed it into Le Chalet Indien, a world-class resort frequented by famed artists and politicians of the day. Brunel's fascination with Native American culture manifested in an adjoining sculpture park, which still stands and is now stewarded by the Friends of Brunel Park, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Even concrete is no match for a hundred years of Catskills weather, though, and the sculptures and totems Brunel left behind were in desperate need of restoration. So, co-founders Cynthia and Evgeny Nikitin organized a matching donation fundraising campaign to save the collection for future generations. 

Anthony Mennella and his team were hired to rehabilitate the largest of the sculptures, transforming the space from a "delightful ruin," to a welcoming, lush garden of plants and sculpted works.

Join us at Brunel Park, where we met up with co-founder Cynthia Nikitin and mason Anthony Mennella. Then, make a point to see this iconic roadside attraction for yourself!

Thanks to our sponsors:

• Hanford Mills Museum
• Briars and Brambles Books
• The Mountain Eagle
• Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway

And listeners like you!

Wave Farm –– in Greene County's Acra, NY –– is a 29-acre campus that's not only home to WGXC 90.7 FM, but a hub for terrestrial radio, transmission arts, and resident artists. Hear from Executive Director Galen Joseph-Hunter how Wave Farm has been pioneering the "transmission arts" genre for more than 25 years.

Thanks to our sponsors:

• Briars & Brambles Books
• Hanford Mills Museum
• Ulster Savings Bank
• Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce
• The Mountain Eagle

Visit our website to make a donation, sign up for our mailing list, and search through our entire catalog of episodes!

Silver Hollow Audio had the honor of recording –– and this month, publishing –– the audiobook version of Kim Brown Seely's Uncharted: A Couple's Empty-Nest Adventure Sailing from One Life to Another. Faced with an empty nest, stagnant jobs, and an economy in freefall, Kim and her husband decided to embark on a grand adventure. On an impulse, they purchased a sailboat, learned to sail, and set off toward untamed wilderness in search of the elusive blonde Kermode bear that only lives in a secluded forest in the Pacific Northwest. Hear the first two chapters of Kim's memoir, plus an exclusive interview with the author about her experience, both on a 54-foot sailboat in Canada's wilderness, and in a 5'x5' soundproof vocal booth in the Catskills, where she narrated the 9-hour audiobook edition.

Congratulations to the winners of our audiobook drawing! The contest has ended, but the audiobook is widely available. For a list of Silver Hollow Audio's full lineup of award-winning audiobooks and where to find them, click here.

Thanks to our supporters:

Briars and Brambles Books, Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway, Hanford Mills Museum, The Mountain Eagle, and listeners like you!

The Catskills naturalist John Burroughs once wrote, "The place to observe nature is where you are; the walk to take to-day is the walk you took yesterday. You will not find just the same things: both the observed and the observer has changed; the ship is on another tack in both cases." His 1886 essay, "A Sharp Lookout" predates terms like "sit spot," "forest bathing," and "shinrin-yoku" by about a century. But the sentiment is the same, and Catskills practitioner Lara Land is a master at it.

Join us for some forest therapy along the Andes Rail Trail and reconnect with the outdoors!

Lara Land can be found at LaraLand.us. Lara is the author of The Essential Guide to Trauma Sensitive Yoga, and she hosts the podcast, Beyond Trauma.

Thanks to this week's sponsors:

Briars and Brambles Books

Ulster Savings Bank

Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway

Hanford Mills Museum

The Mountain Eagle

Spring has sprung in the Catskills, and with the reemergence of our native flora and fauna, invasive species are also happy to awaken. Catskill Regional Invasive Species Partnership (CRISP) director John Thompson tells us what to watch out for, how to report our findings, and what we can do to stem the tide of invasive pests. Plus, two emerging invasives to add to our radar!

Report your findings at: https://www.imapinvasives.org/

Thanks to our sponsors:

Briars & Brambles Books, Hanford Mills Museum, Ulster Savings Bank
Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway, and The Mountain Eagle.

Photo courtesy Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

It's no Carolyn Wells, but honestly, financial literacy poetry is hard to find.

Pictured: Ulster Savings Bank Phoenicia branch manager Samantha Awand-Gortel, with a poster by some appreciative (and financially literate) Phoenicia Elementary Schoolers.

Many thanks to our sponsors:

The Mountain Eagle, Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, and Briars & Brambles Books

Hear more from Hank in Sporting Legends of the Catskills, where he joined panel discussions for "Outdoor Guides of the Catskills: The 'Adventure Experts'" and “On the River with Authors, Guides and Catskill Characters" at Phoenicia Library's Jerry Bartlett Angling Collection.

Thank you to our sponsors:

The Mountain Eagle, the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway, Ulster Savings Bank, and Briars & Brambles Books

Radio Catskill hit the airwaves in 1990 and operated out of a hydro-powered station in Jeffersonville. But when a building was recently offered in nearby Liberty, WJFF shed its 30-year skin and relocated to the now fully-renovated, modern production facility. Technological advances aside, this small public radio station is still very much focused on local news and Catskills culture.

Many thanks to our sponsors:

Briars & Brambles Books

The Mountain Eagle

Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway

Congratulations to listener Douglas Black, winner of the Attwood Bellow Signal Horn!

Thanks to our sponsors:

Ulster Savings Bank
Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce
Briars & Brambles Books

Thanks also to The Mountain Eagle, and listeners like you!

At the base of Windham Mountain, the 7200 square foot Gwen Allard Adaptive Sports Center is headquarters for the Adaptive Sports Foundation, which, for almost 40 years, has provided "profound and life changing experiences for children and adults with physical and cognitive disabilities and chronic illnesses through outdoor physical activity, education, support, and community."

Join us as we ski along with ASF's dedicated staff and volunteers, and hear from a few of their extraordinary clients.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Briars and Brambles Books
The Mountain Eagle
Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce

To get a handle on all this, we spoke with Jeff Senterman, executive director of the Catskill Center, and a member of the advisory group that authored the report.

Download the report here.

This episode was sponsored by:

Ulster Savings Bank
Catskill Mountain Scenic Byway
The Mountain Eagle

And listeners like you!

Washington Irving was an early author to set his fictional tale in the Catskills, but he certainly wasn't the last. If Rip Van Winkle were alive today, he'd have no shortage of contemporary Catskills suspense stories to help keep him awake. Kelli Huggins is on a mission to read all things "Catskills," and she hankers for horror. If a novel features a Catskills town, hotel, or reservoir, it will likely make it onto Kelli's reading list. 

Here's a short list of Kelli's recent faves:

Just Like Mother, by Anne Heltzel
The Hotel Neversink, by Adam O'Fallon Price
Echo, Thomas Olde Heuvelt
The Grave Keepers, by Elizabeth Byrne
Bellweather Rhapsody, by Kate Racculia
Night Film, by Marisha Pessl

Kelli was a speaker on one on Lize Mogel's Walking the Watershed tours, where she recommended some watershed horror tales! She's a social media specialist for the Fenimore Art Museum and the Farmers' Museum in Cooperstown. 

Thanks to our sponsors: 

Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway
The Mountain Eagle

Photo by rikka ameboshi: https://www.pexels.com/photo/opened-book-on-tree-root-3358707/

There's a "herd" of sewing machines in the hundreds, in Delancey, NY, and they're in the loving and capable hands of one Billy Hancock, owner of Billy's Make & Mend, an outpost for sewing machine repair and maintenance, sewing work, machine lessons, and plenty of history. 

Thanks to our latest sponsor, Ulster Savings Bank, which was established the same year as the Singer sewing machine company, 1851! Thanks also to the continued support of the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway and The Mountain Eagle. 

To start off the new year, we visited Shea in the Catskills, a tarot practitioner, artist, facilitator, organizer + contemplative, for a (deeper than perhaps expected) conversation on community, tarot, inspiration ... and some insights for 2023!

Check out Shea's own podcasts! They're simply produced, clean, and inviting -- rumination and curation in a welcoming voice ...

Shea in the Catskills
The Ritualists

Many thanks to our sponsors: the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce and The Mountain Eagle

Just off the Kingston traffic circle, you'll find a couple of gas stations, a used car dealer, and a drive-through vegetarian burger joint. But in the 1940s, this was the site of "Seal College," a training facility for some of the most famous sea lions to share the stage with the likes of Abbott and Costello, Bob Hope, and Ed Sullivan. In his new book, Sharkey: When Sea Lions Were Stars of Show Business, author Gary Bohan, Jr., delves deep into the history of his great-grandfather's trained sea lion business, situated on the Esopus Creek (water source for the sea lion tanks), with plenty of interesting crossover into entertainment and broadcast history, much of which was happening just 90 miles or so south of Kingston, in NYC, and beyond.

Thanks to everyone who submitted their name in the book drawing, and congratulations to the winner, Bill Birns!

Thanks to our sponsors:
Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce
The Mountain Eagle
Briars & Brambles Books

We produced this episode as part of Catskill Historical Views, a collaboration between Catskill Tri-County Historical Views, the Zadock Pratt Museum, and Silver Hollow Audio. After 5 years of publication, Catskill Tri-County Historical Views has sadly ceased publication, due to rising production costs and a diminished subscription base. SIDE NOTE: please support your local media -- it matters! The Mountain Eagle is just one the papers we subscribe to, and it's a great source of local news. On REAL newsprint! Delivered! They support us, too! Along with the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce and Briars & Brambles Books. We recently visited Briars & Brambles for the first time, and the selection is fantastic!

As always, you can support this podcast by:

• subscribing on your favorite platform
• telling friends and family about us
• making a donation at Kaatscast.com

Thank you!

Bullet photo courtesy of Jeremy Roberts © Conservation Media, LLC

Check out these short videos produced by Conservation Media for huntingwithnonlead.org, and see what happens when lead and copper bullets are shot into ballistic gel. 

Thanks to our sponsors:

The Mountain Eagle
Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce
Briars & Brambles Books

When the Wiltwyck Cemetery and family crematory started following us on Instagram, instead of getting ... well ... creeped out, we decided to reach out, and learn about this unique establishment. Kingston's Wiltwyck Rural Cemetery goes back to the mid 19th-century, with tombstones artfully occupying some 60 acres of beautiful rolling hills. A crematory was added in 1984, and it's the only one in Ulster County. Wiltwyck's appeal extends beyond county lines, though, as its unique "witness cremations" allow friends and family to be present for their loved one's cremation. We had a lot of questions for cemetery superintendent Matthew Sirni, and he answered them all with transparency and grace. 

Thanks to our sponsors:
Briars & Brambles Books
The Mountain Eagle
Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway

Catskills writer Violet Snow is the author of To March or to Marry, an historical novel about the lengthy fight for a woman's right to vote, both here in New York, and nationally. As we prepare to cast our ballots in 2022, it's hard to imagine that just over 100 years ago, women were excluded from that process. In this episode of Kaatscast, I talk with Violet Snow about the inspiration for her novel, and the fictional characters that she placed in a very non-fictional time and place preceding women's suffrage in 1920.

If you'd like to buy a copy of Violet's book, we recommend Briars & Brambles Books, right here in Windham, NY. Thanks also to the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce and the Mountain Eagle for their support of this podcast!

Overlook Mountain is a popular Catskills hiking destination, complete with a scenic fire tower and the ruins of an historic hotel. According to researchers, and bolstered by groundbreaking scientific evidence, the mountain's popularity precedes modern hiking; 19th-century tourism; even colonial settlement. A parcel under the protective watch of the Overlook Mountain Center hosts an array of stone cairns and structures believed to have been constructed by Indigenous Americans centuries ago.

In this episode, join us for a hike with researcher Glenn Kreisberg and an exploration of Overlook Mountain's tangible pre-colonial past. 

Thanks to our sponsors:
Briars & Brambles Books
Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce
The Mountain Eagle

If you've ever heard (or even ... uttered) the word "cidiot," to describe an urban transplant, likely that term wasn't used in a positive light. Podcast host Mat Zucker has been doing his best to rebrand the word in a podcast that bears the name. Cidiot is a popular biweekly show about "learning to live in the country," and last year it won "Best Regional Podcast" in the Chronogrammies Readers' Choice Awards. This year, we nabbed that honor, so Mat and I decided to profile each other on our respective podcasts. Cidiot covers the Hudson Valley and a bit of the Catskills, and Kaatscast covers the Catskills and a bit of the Hudson Valley, so we met on neutral ground, on the deck of a waterfront restaurant in Kingston, NY, where we took turns asking questions between bites.

In this episode, hear why Mat is a self-proclaimed and proud "cidiot," lessons he's learned since moving up full-time, and handy tips for newcomers. Then, tune in to Cidiot episode 77 (releases 9/29/22) for Mat's take on Kaatscast, and host Brett Barry's own relationship with the Catskills.

And of course, subscribe to both shows on your favorite platform for continued Catskills/Hudson Valley entertainment every two weeks!

Many thanks to our sponsors:
Hanford Mills Museum
Briars & Brambles Books
Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway
The Mountain Eagle

In our last episode we took a ride on the old Ulster & Delaware rails with Rail Explorers, a pedal bike experience in Phoenicia, NY. This week, we're at the neighboring Empire State Railway Museum, at home in the historic 1899 Phoenicia train station since 1983, for a look back at Catskills railroad history. Curator Tom  Comito tells us about the 1913 peak of travel on these tracks, restoration projects underway, and the museum's evolving relationship with rail tourists.

Many thanks to our sponsors:

Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway
Hanford Mills Museum
Briars & Brambles Books
The Mountain Eagle 

From the late 19th- to the early 20th-century, passengers could board an Ulster & Delaware train in Kingston and ride straight up through the Catskills, to Oneonta. These days, you can still experience a 4-mile stretch of that track, between Mt. Tremper and Phoenicia, with one small caveat. You have to pedal! Rail Explorers has repurposed a few such stretches of track nationwide, including in Rhode Island, Cooperstown, Las Vegas, and the Catskills. Join us as we pedal a "quad explorer" (the "Cadillac" of the fleet) on a scenic "River Run" tour above the Esopus creek.

We'll hear from Catskills division manager Casey Farrell, tour guide Fatima Duque, and Empire State Railway Museum curator Tom Comito. Lots more from Tom in our next episode, so stay tuned!

Many thanks to our sponsors:
The Mountain Eagle
Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway
Hanford Mills Museum
Briars and Brambles Books

Long before "THE" concert so closely associated with Woodstock, "Maverick Concerts" have been delighting fans of classical music for more than 100 years. We sat in the historic concert hall with music director Alexander Platt to hear about the history of the utopian Maverick art colony, the concert series that stemmed from it, and some 21st-century improvements to the Maverick experience. Plus, a look back at a groundbreaking John Cage composition that premiered at Maverick concert hall 70 years ago this month. For that, we get insights from music journalist and composer Kyle Gann. 

Interested in taking in a Maverick concert? Here's a link for upcoming events and tickets.
And to learn more about John Cage's 4'33", check out Gann's book, No Such Thing as Silence.

Thank you to our sponsors:
Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce
Hanford Mills Museum
The Mountain Eagle

Earlier this summer, we joined dozens of auto enthusiasts for a 135-mile loop on the Schoharie Turnpike - Kaaterskill Clove Road Rally, one in a series of rallies that pairs Catskills scenery and history with the love of driving. Join us as we drive the northern Catskills in some unique and well-loved automobiles. More drives in September and October! To join in the fun, check out all 4 Catskills rallies at Historic Automobile Endurance Runs. 

Thanks to our sponsors:

Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway
Hanford Mills Museum
The Mountain Eagle

Stephen Sautner is a lifelong fisherman, environmental activist, and the author of several books on those topics. And while his passion for fishing has taken him to the Falkland Islands, Cuba, the Zambezi River, and even ... New Jersey, a rustic fishing cabin in Hancock, New York, is Stephen's happy place. Tune it to hear Stephen's thoughts on trout, Catskills living, and being a steward of the places we love.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Hanford Mills Museum
Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce
The Mountain Eagle

Kaatscast was voted BEST REGIONAL PODCAST in the 2022 Chronogrammies! 

Anne Hall's addiction to flower growing is a boon to Catskills designers, florists, restaurants, and individuals who want locally grown, chemical-free flowers in another league from generic supermarket fare. In February, we put out an episode on Jarita's, a local florist serving the Catskills for 45 years. One of our listeners heard that episode and said, hey, how about a story on a local grower? Well, we love to hear from listeners, and we were interested to know more about Catskills flower farms, and so here we are! Crespell is a queer women-owned flower farm and CSA in Lexington, NY.

Many thanks to our sponsors: The Mountain Eagle, the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway, and Hanford Mills Museum.

If you're looking for a unique way to experience Catskills views, there's no better time to check out the Catskills' 6 hiker-accessible fire towers! The 2022 Catskills Fire Tower Challenge encourages hikers to visit all 6, with the added bonus of a challenge patch, a subscription to Conservationist magazine, and other prizes. 

We met with the Catskill Center's Olivia Bernard, a Visitor Experience Coordinator at the Catskills Visitor Center, for a rundown of the challenge, a little fire tower history, and a climb to the top of the Upper Esopus fire tower, right there on the visitor center's property in Mt. Tremper, NY. 

If you want to hear about a 7th fire tower coming back online, check out our story from Bramley Mountain. 

Thanks to our sponsors:
The Mountain Eagle
The Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway
Hanford Mills Museum 

Just a few years ago, the coveted Catskills "cabin on 5 acres" was priced at $300,000, give or take. Today, that same property could easily cost you double. Real estate in the Catskills is booming, and while housing markets ebb and flow, according to realtor Peggy Bellar, there's no significant retraction in the forecast. Bellar showed us three properties in Delaware County as a sampling of today's housing inventory. Come along for the ride and join our tour, plus listen in on the latest trends shaping the housing market, including short-term rental investments, and work-from-home professionals embracing the country life. 

Thanks to the Catskill Dream Team, and to our sponsors:
The Mountain Eagle, Hanford Mills Museum, and the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce

If a tick bites you in the woods, and it's free of disease-causing pathogens, does it matter? We wanted to know how many of our Catskills ticks are pathogenetic, so we sent 6 of them to the Thangamani Lab at Upstate Medical University, in Syracuse, NY. You, too, can send any New York tick, and Dr. Thangamani and his team will test it (for free!) for Lyme disease-causing bacteria, and 16 additional pathogens. It's all part of a massive citizen science research initiative tracking distribution of species and pathogens statewide. You can explore those trends using Dr. Thangamani's tick maps, updated daily by county. NYticks.org is also where forms can be found to submit your own tick(s) for testing. Let us know how it goes! 

Thanks to our sponsors: Hanford Mills Museum, the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway, and The Mountain Eagle.

Ed Ullmann is the owner and pharmacy manager of Wellness Rx, a holistic and patient-centered pharmacy in Tannersville, and soon ... Phoenicia! Far from the chain store aesthetic (or lack thereof) the Tannersville location where we met is a meticulously painted Victorian with a wraparound porch. Inside there's a warm general store vibe, with wood floors and pharmacy cases, and a diverse inventory of traditional, natural, and holistic medicine; plus home goods, gifts, and crafts by dozens of local vendors. Ed Ullmann showed us around, and then we settled into a comfortable consultation room, to hear his vision for sustainable rural healthcare.

Thanks to our sponsors: Hanford Mills Museum, the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway, and The Mountain Eagle.

Please vote for Kaatscast now through May 15th in the Chronogrammies for "best regional podcast."

In 2020, Leslie T. Sharpe came to Silver Hollow Audio to narrate The Quarry Fox: and other Critters of the Wild Catskills, available at Libro.fm or wherever you get your audiobooks. Then the pandemic hit. Two years later, she returned to our studios for a reading of "The Bluebird Chronicles: a Catskills Romance." 

In this episode, we sat down with Leslie to fill in some of the gaps between then and now, and to talk birds, bats, and butterflies, plus ways we can all be stewards of the Catskills and its diverse ecosystem. In fact, Leslie was named one of the "50 Stewards of the Catskills" by the Catskill Center in 2019. 

Kaatscast was nominated for "best regional podcast" by Chronogram. Click here to vote for us through May 15th! And check out our new site, with a searchable database of shows, links to our sponsors, a newsletter signup, and more!

This episode was sponsored by The Mountain Eagle and the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce.

The winter/spring 2022 issue of Appalachia, "America's longest-running journal of mountaineering and conservation," features an essay by Catskills writer Leslie T. Sharpe about our little blue harbinger of spring: the bluebird. In this episode, we have the exclusive audio edition! Leslie narrated her piece for Kaatscast, and we present it here in full. 

Don't forget to tune in next time for a followup interview with Leslie T. Sharpe, author of The Quarry Fox: and other Critters of the Wild Catskills. 

Thanks to our sponsors: The Mountain Eagle, and the 52-mile Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway.

Check out our new and expanded website for a searchable directory of episodes, links to show sponsors, and a mailing list signup!
Kaatscast scored a Chronogrammies nomination for "best regional podcast" –– please vote now through May 15th for the win!

Beaverkill Trout Hatchery is family owned and operated by the Shaver family since 1963. We met Sherry Shaver and a few of her relatives on a recent visit to the hatchery, where they were preparing for their busiest season, as fishing clubs order thousands of fish to stock streams and ponds, plus direct sales to area restaurants, and the public.

Thanks to our sponsors: The Mountain Eagle and the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce. 

On March 19th, 2022, a Pierogi and Borscht fundraiser at the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Jewett, NY, brought in thousands of dollars for the people of Ukraine. We spent some time in the kitchen with organizer Switlana Breigle, parishioners, and volunteers with deep connections to Ukraine. This fundraiser supports the efforts of the Ukrainian American Freedom Coalition, "providing material and logistic assistance to the Ukrainian people in need of help with humanitarian supplies." There are already plans underway for another event soon.

Photo by Megan Sperry.

Working for Women is a Catskills-based organization working nationwide to connect business dollars and resources with non-profits advocating for women in the workforce and toward financial independence. We sat down with Catskills native Beth Bengtson, CEO and founder of Working for Women, for a discussion on the challenges her organization is addressing, why focusing on women improves everyone's work lives, plus Beth's preference for active outdoor meetings. This episode was co-hosted by Ulster County legislator Megan Sperry and recorded at SUNY New Paltz's Sojourner Truth Library. 

Producer and host: Brett Barry
Audio engineer: Jared Lyman

Sponsors: The Mountain Eagle and the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce

Kaatscast was named one of the Best 25 New York Podcasts in 2022. 

This year, The Mountain Eagle celebrates 40 years of newspaper publishing, and a relaunch in 2017 brought expanded coverage to Schoharie, Delaware, Greene, and northern Ulster counties. Join us for a conversation with publisher Matt Avitabile on local Catskills journalism and the nuts and bolts of creating and distributing a weekly paper in an increasingly digital age.

Thanks to our sponsor: the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway
Production intern: Jared Lyman

Want to help us grow our audience? Please tell your friends and family about this podcast, and stay in the loop with our twice-a-month newsletter!

Delaware County artist Jessica Farrell was inspired by her aunt's journal from the 1960s and '70s to create "The Wilderness Journal," a series of portraits of adolescents who would go on to struggle with mental health issues. These portraits, in addition to a companion book and an audio narration of aunt Barbara's journal excerpts, is now on exhibit at the Roxbury Arts Center, in Roxbury, NY. Join us for this special program on mental health, advocacy, and art in the Catskills.

Thanks to our sponsors: the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce and The Mountain Eagle

Also mentioned:
The National Alliance on Mental Illness

Snowy weather can be a challenge for Valentine's Day rose delivery, but that's nothing new for Woodstock's Jarita's florist, with 45 years of experience delivering fresh, professionally arranged flowers to Catskills residents. On today's Kaatscast, an interview with the owners of Jarita's on decades of flower sales in Woodstock, NY; how the business has changed; and their unique interactions with the community. 

This episode was recorded by Keith Kortright and sponsored by the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce and Hanford Mills Museum.

Gina Carbonari is a retired U.S. Marine with a new mission. As executive director of the 130-year-old Ulster County SPCA, she's ensuring that the  homeless, abused, and neglected animals there are cared for, sheltered, and readied for adoption. Join us on a tour and meet some of the cats, dogs, and smaller critters safeguarded in Kingston, NY, as they await their new families.

Recordist: Keith Kortright
Sponsors: Hanford Mills Museum and the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway

Tannersville, NY, is a small mountain village, with big aspirations. And now, with the help of a very large grant from New York State, it's preparing for a basket of revitalization projects that would surely put a smile on Rip Van Winkle's face. We sat down with The Hunter Foundation's Sean Mahoney and Amy Scheibe for some backstory on this major award, and the various partners working toward a more vibrant, equitable, and connected community.

Thanks to our sponsors: Hanford Mills Museum and the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce

And thanks to our local sponsors:
The Mountain Eagle
Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway

Feeling sleepy? CO2 could be the culprit. For centuries, the Catskills have offered a respite from city life, and a bit of fresh air. But indoor air quality can be bad no matter where you live. Fortunately, air quality can be measured, and steps taken to get that indoor Catskills air more in line with outdoor Catskills air, for health and wellness. For more, we connected with IAQ expert Ljeta Putāne and local citizen scientist Liz Potter.  Thanks to our sponsors: The Mountain Eagle, and the Catskill Mts. Scenic byway. Kaatscast is a production of Silver Hollow Audio.

It's hunting season in the Catskills, and even if you're not a hunter, you'll want to hear our interview with Tim Byron, a longtime friend with an infectious love for hunting, fishing, camping, and observing Catskills wildlife. A few years back, he started a YouTube series called "Fins - feathers -furs - and the great outdoors"-- documenting hunting and fishing trips,  family excursions, birding, cooking, and lots more. 

Thanks to our sponsors: The Mountain Eagle, and the Catskill Mts. Scenic byway. Our interview was recorded by production intern, Keith Kortright. Kaatscast is a production of Silver Hollow Audio. 

Check out the DEC's new film, Uninvited: The Spread of Invasive Species. 

Thanks to Dixon Roadside and the Catskill Mountains Scenic Byway for their support!