Leaves of Greene Again

THOSE CONDOS. Twelve of the twenty Catskill Creek residential units that were put up for auction on November 1 were sold. According to lumbering GreeneLander Steve Dunn, the “well attended” auction was conducted in an “above-board, professional” manner, with purchase prices representing “good value” for prospective resident owners but not, all things considered (taxes, condo fees…) for investor-landlords. According to another attendee, Trevor Moran, the top sale price, “for one of the bigger, newer, better” units, was $297,500 (plus $29,750 buyer’s premium). Eight units were not sold. Information about them may be obtainable from a Bill Anderson, of the owning Tower Management Services Co., at 212 843 8052. (The adjective “lumbering” was a joke. Knowledgeable locals will understand).

NEW BUSINESS. Kathy Clearwater recently opened Revolution, a “contemporary boutique for women,” at 428 Main St, Catskill; 943-9888. Tom Martin opened Catskill Mountain Orchids at 65 West Bridge St, Catskill. Melissa Speenburgh opened a hairdressing salon for men and women at 209 Jefferson Heights Blvd. According to a Daily Mail advertisement, it is called D’Vine Reflextions. And Matt Kovner, having given the former convenience store at 390 Main St, Catskill, its original 19th century look, has made the place the headquarters of his Hudson Valley Historics business.

EXOTICA DEPT. Obambulate (v.)= to walk about; to wander. Barrack (v., in English English)=to cheer for, support vocally.

GOSSIP DEPT. Catskill Central School authorities decided not to buy a needed new tractor but instead chose to buy an unneeded mail truck (since a van could have been adapted)…. Some stupid schoolboys chose a highly exposed spot for smoking weed… Muddy Cup on Catskill’s Main Street, though sponsoring an event during tomorrow’s Saturday Studios sashay, will close--retrieving the fortunes of Retriever Roasters? The deli operation that succeeded La Rosa in Brandos Alley in Catskill started badly, and will end soon… A weight-training machine donated to Catskill schools by Summit Hill Athletic Club years ago, but never set up for use, will be dumped. A big load of training equipment, just donated by SHAC, will be put in storage until a new weight-training room is constructed….

FEEDBACK DEPT. Our “Bluish Greene?” blog elicited a signed response, which was duly posted, and some anonymous responses. Among the latter was a judgment that “it was [Sandy] Treadwell's support of and association with the Bush Administration, as well as his negative campaign ads, that cost him the election. At least that's why this Republican didn't vote either for him or the McCain/Palin ticket.

” CHRISTINE OWAD (aka Marie Owad, aka Ahes Owad), swindler of Green Card-seeking illegal immigrants, is defendant in two-headed foreclosure lawsuit involving property on Kaaterskill Road, Palenville (as distinct from the Prattsville farm property which, she claimed [Seeing Greene, 10/13/06], the Russian Mafia was trying to wrest from her by using New York State prosecutors). The case is two-headed in that a Peter Menlikov is a plaintiff and, with Ms Owad and others, is a defendant.

‘NO GAGGLE OF GREASE’ is the title of foodie Brigit Binns’s cookery article in the current (“Next”-themed; Obama-featured) issue of InsideOut. And Turducken, she warns,“is an unnatural assembly of hideous complexity” that, by the time it is fully prepared, “has been so over-handled that it must feel like eating your grandmother’s tea cozy wrapped in your uncle’s favorite muffler.” Now there's a bit of well cooked prose.

IN PROSPECT: >>Adaptation of River of Dreams, a new book by GreeneLand author/illustrator Hudson Talbott into a musical play directed by GreeneLand thespian Casey Biggs, with songs by GreeneLand composer Frank Cuthbert, with Catskill high schoolers involved in all stages of development, and with performances slated for 2009’s Quadricentennial festivities.

p> >>“VINNIE,” “a warm-hearted romantic comedy” opens November 29th at Stageworks/Hudson, across from the Amtrak station. But No, it’s not about Vincent Seeley, mayor and/or president of the Village of Catskill.

>>Publication of a book based on the 1910 title Panorama of the Hudson, a collection of black and white photographs of riverbank scenery as seen from the old Day Line steamers. Turn the pages from first to last, and you get east bank scenes; turn the book over, and you get west bank scenes. The prospective update, as compiled by Joe Aronson (of Woodstock and Manhattan), would be based on new color pictures taken from a helicopter.

>>Pullulation of pigs. Farmer Tom Pitstick has applied for State permits to enlarge the population of his Greene County pig farm. Citing the need to stay competitive by way of economies of scale, he proposes to enlarge his Pitstick Pork Farms swine stock to 4700 market hogs plus with 2400 nursery hogs (weighing less than 55 pounds). The animals, he estimates, would annually generate 2.2 million gallons of manure. In Greene County, Ohio.