Mid-Summer Greene

BALLOT HEAT II. Republicans in Catskill are creating a new political party. Their professed object is to ensure that the names of their intended candidates for seats on the county legislature—incumbents Karen Deyo and Keith Valentine, along with Joseph Izzo and Linda H. (not L .!) Overbaugh--shall appear on the general election ballot in November. To that end, and with an August 18^th deadline looming, they are gathering signatures on petitions that would create a Have A Voice Party, with the Republican quartet as its Catskill district legislative candidates. That drive is fueled by awareness of the possibility that those candidates’ names would not otherwise appear on the Republican or any other line on the November ballot. Those absences could be caused most immediately by a State Supreme Court ruling that will be handed down within a few days. The exclusionary ruling would in turn be the product of odd circumstances, Republican procedural blunders, and Democratic challenges. It’s a long story, full of twists and maybes and, of course, hyperbole.

WALL OF HISTORY. The exterior of the south wall of the warehouse at Catskill Point has been designated as a target, in keeping with the Quadricentennial observances, for art. Information packets are available from Arts Council (www.greenearts.org ). Deadline is tomorrow (8/15) for design sketches and applications. Preferred themes are great moments in GreeneLand & Hudson history.

BOOK TREAT. Soon to arrive at bookstores near and far is Princess Tea, a guidebook for party-minded little girls, their mothers and their grandmothers. “From Lotus Princess Tea to Cowgirl Princess Tea,” says the publicity release from Chronicle Books, each of nine themed party treatments is presented with recipes for tea, snacks and dessert plus instructions for making topical decorations. “Fairy Princesses can make their own magic wands, while Underwater Princesses feast on Buttered Sea Shells….” It’s the latest literary brainchild of GreeneLand foodie (and party giver) Janeen Sarlin. All being well, vendors will market Princess Tea as treat for children as well as for cookbook collectors.

ENHANCED by orders of magnitude is the Thomas Cole National Historic Site’s web site. As described by Site director Elizabeth Jacks, www.thomascole.org now includes “a learning portal with nearly 150 Cole paintings in high-resolution format,” a streaming version of the recently made 15-minute film about Cole, “a Flash presentation that tells the Thomas Cole story in bullet form,” an on-line shop, “a ‘Landscape’ blog with behind-the-scenes information,” a Site membership application form, a donation form, and a “guestbook” enabling visitors to comment on what they have seen and heard. And more is to come. In “Phase two” the web site also will house podcasts of on-Site lectures, photographs taken by Art Trail hikers, and texts of articles written by visiting scholars.

PLANNED for special exhibition at the Cole Site during 2010 is a collection of paintings by women artists of the Hudson River School. This show’s curator, Nancy Siegel, will deliver the opening day talk, on Mothers’ Day.

INDICATORS DEPT. As economic hardship increases, so does traffic at Planned Parenthood

POSITIVE NEGATIVE DEPT. For a prospective property developer, a negative evaluation of a project’s environmental consequences is a positive event. It means, under the State’s Environmental Quality Review Act, that an adverse environmental impact is not anticipated.

MISINFORMATION DEPT. In touting the Daily Mail web site's "new look," a staff reporter promises (7/16/09), redundantly and falsely, that "We will, of course, continue to publish news and local information every day, 24/7, updated each day." Somebody needs to remind that employee that the paper is not published on Sundays and Mondays.

SEATED EDGE DEPT. "When sitting in the tub and looking east," says TimesUnion scribe Steve Barnes, "the infinity edge of the pool [at a Coxsackie estate] seems to empty into the Hudson."