Bright Greene

HONORED for showing practical ingenuity in Odyssey of the Mind competitions: two teams of Catskill High School students. Joey DiStefano, Jackie Monsell, Kortney Kost, Olivia Fiske, Patrick Hedges, Sean Daly, and Stefania Buta entered the Odyssey organization’s Mechanical Vehicle division challenge, which called on contestants this year to “design, build and drive,” at a cost below $145, a “Nature Trail’R” that would travel to a campground, traverse a team-created nature trail, overcome an obstacle, clean up the environment, encounter wildlife and undergo repair. That team’s mechanical creation was judged best in the regional competition and entitled thereby to vie, at Binghampton University on March 27th, for State-wide honors. --------Meanwhile, Sonia Bragulla, Ayla Steere, Mike Cothren, Kyle Sanson, Paul Sira, and Sofia Young entered the Performance division which, under the heading of “Food Court,” required participants to create and present a humorous performance where a food item is accused of being unhealthy and must defend itself among its food peers. Contestants were obliged to write, dress (at no more than $125) and play the parts of accused, accusing, and other edibles. The CHS Performance team placed second in the regional competition. www.odysseyofthemind.com. --------Teacher-coach Stefanie Loomis took on responsibility for Odyssey participation three years ago. Since then, Superintendent Kate Farrell notes, CHS teams have placed in the top three in regional competions, and one team each year has won entry to the State-wide competitions.

HONORED as foremost Scholar-Athlete in the Patroon conference and in all schools of his size in the Capital Region: Coxsackie-Athens High School’s Nathan Tailleur, son of Beth and Chip Tailleur. The award (including $200) from Capital Region Basketball, bestowed at a gathering last Sunday in the Albany Marriott, pays tribute to basketball prowess plus academic achievements plus community involvement. Nathan will enter Cornell University in September.

HONORED by a long line of customers who, having attended her illustrated lecture, were eager to buy her book, at $50 per copy: Linda Ferber, art historian of the New-York (sic; the hyphen stays) and author of The Hudson River School: Nature and the American Vision. The lecture was delivered at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site in Catskill. Unfortunately, only 20 copies of the book were available. The demand tells a lot about the quality of speakers who have responded to Cole House recruiters, and about the taste and number of listeners.

HONORED by the New York State Hospitality and Tourism Association, as a Bed & Breakfast of Distinction, in light of architectural excellence, historic preservation and utility as a local tourism booster: Hunter’s Fairlawn Inn. (Daily Mail, 3/12/10)

REWARDED with publication in the February 21 issue of Forbes magazine of “In Building Communities Marketers Can Learn from Cults”: GreeneLand marketing guru Douglas Atkin.

CORRECTED here and now, by this blogger: errors in the February 27 (“Down & Up”) edition of Seeing Greene. (1) “Teejay” Hall was represented this time, as well as earlier, by attorney Richard Mott. (2) The case did not go to trial this time. Under Mr Mott’s guidance, and with District Attorney Terry Wilhelm’s concurrence, Hall entered a plea of guilty to the crime of burglary (second degree felony; home invasion), on the understanding that Judge Daniel Lalor would impose a sentence of no more than 81/2 years of imprisonment.

FORESHADOWED in various announcements:

* Musical “Peter Pan” staged tonight (3/19) at Catskill High School, at 7pm, as well as well as Saturday night and Sunday afternoon (2pm). 943-2300.

-------*Maple syrup—what, how, why…--expounded tomorrow (3/20) at the Agroforestry Resource Center in Acra, from 10am. 579-622-9828 www.agroforestrycenter.org

*St Patricks Day parade tomorrow in Greenville, from St. John the Baptist Church at 1pm down Ropute 81 to Hill Street and beyond.

--------*Catskill Village candidates’ forum tomorrow, from 10:30am, at Catskill Community Center. Angelo Amato, Brian Kehoe and Vincent Seeley (named here in alphabetical order), candidates for two Village Board seats, offer statements and respond to questions, with Mid-Hudson League of Women Voters providing a moderator. [NOTE: Mr Amato responded to that sentence with two comments that seem to be too choice to be relegated to the regular Comments section: "1) And I thought you were listing us candidates in order of preference, NOT alphabetically (haha, just kidding). 2) Even funnier would have been if you mistakenly "mashed up" the last 2 paragraphs something like: 'Catskill Village Candidates forum, tomorrow at Juniper Woods, Greenlands clothing optional nudist camp....' Without humor, life would not be worth living].

-------- *On July 11, during National Nude Weekend, visitors to Juniper Woods, GreeneLand’s “clothing optional nudist” camp, will participate in a nation-wide effort to surpass last year’s world record Skinny Dip.