Phoenicia

By Jay Braman Jr.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), known locally as the guy who now runs Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, will make his first public appearance in the region on Thursday, August 2 when he comes to Phoenicia as the keynote speaker for the opening ceremonies for the annual Phoenicia Festival of the Voice.

Ted Blazer will deliver the opening and welcoming remarks at 7:30 p.m. from the main stage at Phoenicia’s Parish Field, where the voice festival begins its annual four-day celebration with the operatic spoof, The Benefit.

Phoenicia — For the third season, from August 2 to 5, the Phoenicia Festival of the Voice will bring glorious vocal offerings to various sites in Phoenicia.

The four-day festival opens with Divas Unleashed, an operatic comedy in English, staring Maria Todaro, Michelle Jennings, and Bryan Wade. Following the production there will be a fundraising dinner with a Japanese theme, anticipating the opera Madama Butterfly.

Friday performances

By Jay Braman Jr.
The Coalition of Watershed Towns (CWT), a regional advocacy group established to settle disputes between New York City and the local communities that supply the city’s water, has not yet jumped into the 15-year-long fray over a sewage treatment plan for the Hamlet of Phoenicia.

The city’s involvement appeared to end last month when it representatives left the negotiating table, taking with them over $15 million in grant funds that could have been used by Phoenicia to build a septic treatment system.

By Jay Braman Jr.
In tough economic times, it seems as if everyone’s got their hand out.
This can be overwhelming for the average person who would like to give, but feels they lack the resources to make any contribution that would make a difference.

That’s why supporters of the Phoenicia Library sat down and outlined how donating even a tiny bit to the recently burned out organization can and will make a difference. On March 19, 2011 a fire destroyed the interior and contents of the Phoenicia Library, rendering the Main Street building uninhabitable.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Local officials have given the green light for a huge celebration of volunteer firefighters in Phoenicia on Saturday, July 28. The event, sponsored by the Ulster County Volunteer Fireman’s Association (UCVFA), is free and open to the public.

According to spokesman Gary Specht, Phoenicia was chosen due to the devastation that hit the community last year when hurricanes Irene and Lee blew through.

By Jay Braman Jr.
The Phoenicia water system is in need of repairs that could cost more than $1 million, and water district officials say there’s no real plan for where to get the money to pay for them.

By Jay Braman Jr.
There were plenty of smiles on faces Friday morning on the Bridge Street Bridge in Phoenicia. More than 100 actually.

It was unusual to see that many people in one place in the Town of Shandaken hamlet, and even more unusual to see them all on a bridge at the same time.

But Friday morning was a special occasion. It was the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the bridge, a span that was crippled last August when Tropical Storm Irene flooded the Esopus Creek, which usually runs below the bridge, to well over the top of its pavement.

By Jay Braman Jr.
The Bridge Street bridge in Phoenicia will finally be repaired, says Ulster County Executive Mike Hein.

The bridge was damaged by Tropical Storm Irene last summer, but its repair was put on the back burner by the county because it was unclear whether it even could be repaired.
In January the county hired the firm Peak Engineering to study the bridge. The results of that study should have been given to the county on February 1, but for reasons unknown the study was not submitted until March 30.

Phoenicia — The life of hometown fly fishing hero, Ray Smith will be celebrated at the Phoenicia Library on Saturday, March 31 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Friends and family members of Ray Smith, who passed away in 1975, will share their stories of this avid dry fly fisher in the second floor room of the Jerry Bartlett Memorial Angling Collection.  Ray was a licensed guide who was very well known in the Esopus Valley, both for his fishing and fly tying expertise. 

By Jay Braman Jr.
Work on construction of a controversial farm stand in Shandaken was ordered shut down over the weekend by the town’s code enforcement officer, but the owner of the property is ignoring the order and was pouring concrete Monday at the Route 28 location of his business to get ready for a reopening.

This skirmish marks the latest battle between Al Higley, owner of Hanover Farms, and the Town of Shandaken, which has alleged for several years that the farm-stand business is not properly zoned and is operating illegally.