Josh Kilmer-Purcell's Blog, page 92

September Chatter

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We’ve lobbied really hard for Garrison Keillor to give up life in Lake Wobegone and move to Sharon Springs,  but thus far he has not answered our letters or returned our calls.

Sharon Springs has beautiful people and above-average children, too, so on to Plan B.

What is a small town village without a small town paper to keep track of what everyone is doing?

Leila Durkin, proprietor of The Village Hall Gallery, is now editor of our own little paper.

Each month you can check back here for a new issue and follow the lives of the real village people.  If you pay a real visit, you  may even want to submit a story idea of your own!

You may not live in small town, but at least you can pretend.

The  September 2012  issue of the Chatter is below

 

 

 

Cuts Both Ways

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Beekman 1802 is devoted to all things “heirloom”, and in some sense this is a romantic way of saying that we value permanance.

We love going through old buildings and houses and seeing built-in cabinets or light fixtures or windows that were created specifically for that place.  Craftsmanship aside, their value is intimately related to the place in which the reside.

We apply this philosophy in how we adorn our own home.  If we are good stewards, the house will be here another 220 years, and, hopefully, pieces of our history will, too.  (The Table we added to the dining room is certainly not going anywhere anytime soon.)

We recently had artist Thom Mullins create an installation for the curved wall that serves as the backdrop for the main staircase in the house.  It is tailored to perfectly fit the space and out of context would lose much of its meaning.

Thom works in paper-cutting, and generally his works are traditional silhouettes, but for this piece we drew inspiration from the grid method of drawing–where an image is broken down into small squares and the focus is on drawing a very minute part of the whole image.  When all of the small squares are combined, the subject becomes apparent.

After walking around the farm and taking hundreds of photographs, Thom constructed a panoramic scene of the farm with the house reflected upside down in the pond.

 

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Then he broke the scene down into it’s parts and started painstakingly cutting each element out of thin black paper.    With over 70 panels, the project took over 2 months to complete.

“Hardly a traditionalist, I use my laptop to create detailed images and boil them down to high-contrast black and white images or silhouettes. The illustrations become the base art for my cuttings. With some cuttings, I aim to have the piece be one piece of paper, with details cut away, leaving on sheet of paper. With other projects, particularly ones that float between glass, I step outside the box. For the Beekman Project, I wanted the Beekman Mansion to appear white against a silhouette of trees, clouds and sky. So the shadowed areas of the railings and windows were free-floating cuts of paper. This allowed the mansion, which is painted white to remain white in the piece, instead of making it appear black.”

 

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He uses a small blade to make the precision cuts required for the balustrades of the house.  Even the artist’s signature is delicately cut out of paper.

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“I placed a goat overlooking the property, since goat-milk products have become the mainstay of the farm. And of course, the farm’s real diva, a llama named Polka Spot was featured.”

 

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The artist even captured a rainstorm passing through the distant valley, something that we often sit on the back porch and watch.

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A view of the installation from the downstairs central hallway.  As the sun moves throughout the day, the colors reflected in the glass of the frame mirrors what is happening outside.  Because the wall is curved, light penetrates the glass and reflects off of the light color wall behind, making the piece seem illuminated.

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A view of the installation from the top of the stairs.  A wall that was once unmemorable now is a focal point as you pass from one level of the house to another.

 

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Artist Thom Mullins preparing to install the last frame.  The installation process took 4 people over 3 hours to complete.

 

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Of  course PolkaSpot had to be problematic.

 

About the Artist

Thom Mullins, a city-boy at heart, lives in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish Country, northwest of Philadelphia. He was born in London and has lived all over the world. He has been a graphic designer and journalist for some twenty years, having published several magazines showcasing the arts.

“My art work is influenced by my travels throughout Europe, Asia, Australia and the Americas. My designs touch upon unique ethnic and cultural storytelling traditions, which often include papercuttings. You see papercuttings in Chinese (Jianzhi), Japanese (Kirie), Thai (Nang Yai papercut puppets) Indonesian (Batik), Mexican (Papel Picado), and European traditions. Right here, the Pennsylvania Dutch, have an art form they call ‘Scherenschnitte.’ There is a natural connection between this art form and my work in silhouettes, and tone-on-tone designs. My work pays homage to these classic design traditions, but I aim to give everything a modern twist.”

Visit his website to purchase some of his work or to inquire about commissioning pieces for your own home.

 

 

 

 

Gartending: Lil’ Cowboy

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For the Spring and Summer growing season, we bring you a new feature at Beekman 1802, the Soused Gnome.  He’ll teach  you how to “gartend”–create perfect seasonal cocktails using fresh ingredients from the garden.

Klaus has been visiting farmers markets all over the country for the past month or so. His first adventure was to Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, next was to the bread-basket of our nation in Columbus, Ohio. Last weekend he journeyed all the way out to Portland, Oregon to watch me do a presentation on freestyle mixology for the International Food Bloggers Conference held by Foodista.

 

It certainly stimulated my taste and olfactory senses!

 

Portland, Oregon is a city of farmers markets. There is a plethora of cocktail friendly ingredients that defy the imagination.

Cherries are in season again out on the left coast. This time the bounty of the garden is in the form of rare white cherries.

White cherries exemplify the gartender’s dream cocktail. When crushed into a cocktail, white cherries are otherworldly on the flavor profile.

 

Be sure to pit out your cherries before they go into your mixing cup.

 

We almost never see white cherries on the east coast. Klaus (the Soused Gnome) explains that the cherries flesh is sometimes too tender to travel. He told me that in his home country (Germany) his kinfolk put up sumptuous white cherries in fiery brandy! He goes on to tell me that brandied white cherries are marvelous in a cocktail that includes Denizen Rum, cucumber ice (really!) House Spirits White Dog and freshly squeezed grilled grapefruit juice. The lift for this cocktail is provided by Klaus’s favorite pinpoint seltzer water, the Perrier Sparkling Natural Spring Water. He says that this water reminds him of his youth on the German/French border. I’ve told him that he needs to concentrate on locally sourced ingredients, but he disagrees.

Funny how a drinking gnome can have such an opinion on mixers!

 

Klaus grew cucumbers this year in the garden. These cucumbers are the European variety (no surprise here) they are seedless. Frozen into the Williams-Sonoma KING ice cube tray (2 inch x 2 inch) the European variety makes for a flavorful augmentation of Klaus’s soon to be infamous cocktail.

 

I reproduced this drink back in New Jersey with my own home cured cherries. Unfortunately these cherries are red instead of white, but they are delicious all the same. You can reproduce the cherries yourself by pitting out a few pounds of WEST COAST cherries, then covering in the spirit of your choice. Klaus suggests using a light spiced rum or even Apple Jack.

They take a couple of weeks to cure, but Klaus and I both say that the wait is worth it!

 

I know that after the trip to Oregon, cowboy music plays very well into the re-birth of the West Coast sensibilities that Klaus possesses. His GIANT thirst is only superseded by his ability to drink dozens of (tiny) drinks while roaming the myriad of mixology bars that dot this most interesting of cities.

I created this cocktail “on the fly, free-style” at the IFBC/Freestyle Mixology presentation ‘Lil Cowboy Swing Cocktail (named for Portland, Oregon’s lost cowboy culture)

 

‘Lil Cowboy Swing Cocktail

Ingredients:

(A couple weeks before you make this cocktail “put-up” some home-cured cherries)

Denizen Rum White Rum

House Spirits White Dog (Moonshine) (Oregon Distilled)

Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Roses

Bitter End Thai Bitters

Freshly Squeezed Grilled Grapefruit juice (Slice grapefruit into rounds and sear or grill until charred over charcoal or in a sauté pan) then juice as normal

Home cured Cherries (white if you can find them, red if you cannot)

European cucumber (peeled and sliced into coins for both the ice cubes and the cocktail)

Perrier Sparkling Natural Spring Water

Cucumber water ice- freeze rounds of a European seedless cucumber into an ice cube tray. I recommend the Williams-Sonoma silicone KING CUBE tray- I do a 50/50 blend of freshly juiced cucumber water with filtered water from my Mavea water filtration pitcher (The Mavea pitcher is from Germany- are you surprised?)

 

Instructions

for two strikingly powerful cocktails

 

Muddle several rounds of cucumber with some (pitted) home cured cherries in a mixing cup

Add some regular ice (about a handful)

Add 2 oz White Dog from House Spirits

Add 1 oz Denizen Rum (White Rum)

Add 4 tablespoons of Royal Rose Simple Syrup of Roses

Add 4 oz of your grilled grapefruit juice (essential)

Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake

Add a couple cubes of the homemade cucumber ice to your hand-blown cocktail glass

Double Strain into a tall hand-blown glass filled with cucumber ice

Don’t have a hand-blown glass?? Time is now to connect with your cocktail glass!

 

What does it mean to double-strain? Pour through 2 strainers to remove all bits of cherry and cucumber and grilled grapefruit juice

 

Add four drops per cocktail glass of the Bitter End Thai Bitters

Top with the Perrier Natural Sparkling Mineral Water (Essential)

Garnish with either a red or white cherry (your choice)

 

 

 

 

 

5 Beautiful Things

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This new feature is designed to inspire you to look at the world around you, to take note of the season at hand and to capture it – in memory or on film – for posterity. I will be choosing five photos each week for Beekman1802.com with this aim in mind. We’re calling the feature, The Five Most Beautiful Things In The World This Week

 

The Funnies

To those who meet me for the first time, I can come off pretty serious. Reservation and resolve are traits I’ve had since childhood and they’ve served me pretty well in life, even if they may have left some wondering whether I have a funny bone. Those who truly know me, however, know that I love being silly, letting down my proverbial hair (I have no actual hair these days, thank you very much) and being weird for the sheer fun of it.  My sense of humour tends to run through darker territory. (I’ll take Edward Gorey over Charlie Brown any day.) And the more absurd the situation, the more I laugh. Since I’ve had more seriousness this summer than I care to reflect upon, I thought it would be fun to share some giggles this week. Below are five peculiar images that never fail to make me chuckle. They are not necessarily beautiful, but smiles always are.

 

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Photos:

All photos taken from Pinterest, uploaded by various deranged lunatics.

 

Andrew Ritchie is the creator of Martha Moments, a blog devoted to Martha-Stewart related content and her community of supporters. He lives and works in Toronto, Canada, and has been a longtime friend of Brent & Josh, Beekman 1802 and Sharon Springs. Each week he’ll scour the world (wide web) to find the 5 most beautiful things to inspire you. Follow Andrew on Pinterest.

 

 

Fabulous and Amazing?

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We’re excited to share some fabulous AND amazing news! We’re going to be one of the 11 teams embarking on a global adventure Season 21 of “The Amazing Race,” premiering Sunday, September 30th at 8pm. We’re not going to spoil the fun by telling you much more…you’ll just have to tune in!

Head over to the Amazing Race Facebook Page to see more cast photos and bios, and be sure to leave a comment that you’ll be tuning in!

 

(If you’re new to Josh & Brent and Beekman 1802, please learn more about us and our farm here.)

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Welcome to the Farm, Amazing Race Fans!

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Welcome to Beekman 1802 Farm – home of Josh, Brent, Farmer John, the goats, PolkaSpot and all kinds of crazy creatures. If you haven’t heard of us before, we’re glad to finally be meeting you. We put this article together to help you learn more about Brent & Josh, our company, and our great upstate home – Sharon Springs, NY.

Season 2 of the reality TV show about our lives, The Fabulous Beekman Boys, begins airing on The Cooking Channel on Sept 20th, at 10pm. (Click here to find the channel listing in your area) You can catch up on Season One of the show on  iTunes, DVD, or Amazon Instant Video

Or you can read all about how we became “accidental goat farmers” and founded our company, Beekman 1802, in our bestselling [image error]memoir “The Bucolic Plague.”  If you’re interested in trying some of our goat milk soaps, cheese, and artisanal crafts, please check out our online store or visit us in person.

[image error]If you like to cook, please check out our bestselling Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook.

Here’s a little more about our background s…

Brent is a physician who used to work as “Dr Brent” at Martha Stewart Omnimedia. You might recognize him from his appearances on the Martha Stewart Show. Josh is a writer, who also works in advertising. We’ve been together 13 years, having first met in New York City where we lived full time up until five years ago. That’s when we stumbled across the Beekman Mansion and Farm in Sharon Springs, NY while on an apple picking trip. We purchased it, and the rest is not only history…it’s our future.

Beekman1802.com is the hub of everything Beekman:

The products we produce on our farm, and other regional crafts can be purchased in our online Mercantile. Or you can visit our store in Sharon Springs, NY.

You can read articles about gardening, animals, decor, health, and food & wine (we share a lot of recipes.)

You can also read blogs from Brent, Josh, and our resident ghost – young Mary Beekman.

For those who watch The Fabulous Beekman Boys, you can get behind the scenes dirt in our Beyond Fabulous blog.

And for those who just want to kick back, you can watch some of our slide shows and videos from around the farm.

And for the bare basic details, here are the pages for contacting us, Sharon Springs store info, upcoming events, and retail partners near you.

So we’re glad you found us. Please look around and let us know what you think. And please share any advice with us as well. We can all always be a little more fabulous.

xo,

Josh & Brent

 

With This Ring

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The wedding ring has its origins on the banks of the Nile.  The circle is a symbol of eternity to the Egyptians, and they would fashion rings and bracelets out of the sedges, rushes and reeds growing along the river.  To them, the hole in the center of the ring was equally important:  a gateway to things and events unknown.

The Egyptians wore ring on the third finger of the left hand because of a belief that the vein of that finger directly traveled from the heart.   The Romans later adopted this practice and called the vessel the “vena amoris”—the vein of love.

Over time and cultures, the substrate used to fashion the rings has evolved from reeds to leather to metal.  Most commonly, wedding bands now are made of gold–a symbol that the groom has enough wealth to take care of his beloved.

When Josh and I got engaged in December of 2011, what we lacked in financial resources we subsidized with a creative spirit (and talented friends!)

At a surprise engagement party thrown for Josh, I placed upon his finger a ring that had been carefully planned with Michael McCarthy, the blacksmith who is one of the founding members of our B. 1802 Rural Artist Collective and who creates many of the metal items for Beekman 1802.

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Michael is skilled with working with any type of metal, but we chose steel because of its strength–something that any enduring relationship needs.

We left the edges of the ring in their rough, organic state, because no relationship is perfectly smooth.  There will always be rough patches.

We lined the inside of the ring with silver because, so it seems, that no matter the trials and tribulations that we have faced over the 15 years that we have been together, we’ve always been able to find a silver lining no matter how elusive.

Next Spring,  when we plan to walk down a path through the fields of Beekman Farm, we have no idea what will lie beyond that gateway.

But it will be fabulous.

 

Dear Henry

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“There’s a Hole in My Bucket” is a German children’s song that originate in the 1700s. The song is based on a dialogue about a leaky bucket between two characters, called Henry and Liza. The song describes a deadlock situation: Henry has got a leaky bucket, and Liza tells him to repair it. But to fix the leaky bucket, he needs straw. To cut the straw, he needs an axe. To sharpen the axe, he needs to wet the sharpening stone. To wet the stone, he needs water. However, when Henry asks how to get the water, Liza’s answer is “in a bucket”. It is implied that only one bucket is available — the leaky one, which, if it could carry water, would not need repairing in the first place.

Most certainly William Beekman’s children would have sang it and children still sing it today. That’s an heirloom! And it has inspired our design for this collection of ceramics.

Watch the making of this heirloom:

 

To purchase a piece from the collection, click here.

 

The B. 1802 Rural Artist Collective creates modern implements using traditional craftsmanship and production methods.  Each product is hand-made.  We are pleased to introduce Sunny Leinhart.

 

 

 

 

 

Gartending: Spice Things Up

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Klaus is having a burst of late summer inspiration.  The part of Germany that Klaus hails is filled with distillers of fruit and herbal liqueurs.  Some of these liqueurs pack quite a kick, some of the others are less potent.  But whatever type of liqueurs are available, Klaus is usually first in line to sample them.

Klaus and I just took a stroll through the garden.  The mint is in a second flush, the leaves are dark green and vibrant in flavor.  I showed Klaus how to slap mint and I think he saw the value in releasing the oils into the side of the cocktail glass before the drink actually goes into it.

Essentially, slapped mint is just that.  You take a piece of well-washed mint and put it in one of your hands.  The other free hand slaps the mint like you’re clapping your hands!  Problem solved!

Klaus came to the supermarket with me a couple weeks ago.  In the fruit isle at Whole Foods we found the most gorgeous Washington State Cherries.  Lush, packed with dark juices and ripe, these cherries were not grown for mere eating or making tarts- they were grown for cocktail cherries!  My cocktail cherry recipe is quite simple.  Pit out 1-2 pounds of well-washed, de-stemmed cherries.  Dry them carefully.  Using a long nosed cherry pitter (available at Williams-Sonoma) pit out all the tender fruits into a bowl.  Find a nice bottle of spiced rum.  I used Chairman’s Reserve Spiced Rum because of the baking spice character that this rum lends to the cherries.  It’s important to refrigerate the cherries as quickly as possible, well covered.  If you want, you can process the cherries as if you are canning.  Just make sure the glass canning containers are sterilized in boiling hot water for at least 5 minutes before adding the cherries and processing.  After two or so weeks in the fridge or up to six months in the jar, you have better cocktail cherries than you can buy.  Throw out those maraschino cherries dyed fake red at the supermarket.  This is a cherry that bites you back!  I invented the Botanologia Cocktail with the thought that every great herbal elixir needs something to balance out the heat of the alcohol.  I’m not sure why the European herbal liqueurs pack so much punch, but one thing is for certain, Klaus finds them extremely enticing on a late summer day.

The Botanologia Cocktail

 

Ingredients:

Carpano Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth: Italy

Herbsaint: United States (Down South)

Chartreuse Liqueur Fabriquée VEP: France (rumored to have 130 Alpine herbs in the mix including my favorite-tarragon)

Sumptuous Syrups of Vermont Black Currant Syrup or Black Currant Syrup from Germany or Austria (Both countries are known for fabulous, concentrated fruit syrups)

Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water

Bitter End Thai Bitters

Fresh mint garnish

Home made Cocktail Cherries in Spiced Rum

 

Preparation:

To a Boston Shaker (stainless steel mixing vessel)

Add ¼ with ice

Add 2oz. Herbsaint

Add 1 oz. Carpano Antica

Add .5 oz. Chartreuse VEP

Add 2 Tablespoons of the Sumptuous Syrups Black Currant Syrup or like Black Currant syrup

Close top with a glass and shake really well until frosty

Pour into a tall glass with fresh ice

Finish with Perrier Sparkling Natural Mineral Water (Essential, Klaus loves the pin-point bubble of this water)

Drop 3 drops of the Bitter End Thai Bitters over the top

Garnish with fresh mint and two plump, ripe cocktail cherries

Raise your glass!!

 

 

Fly Fishing

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While visiting a friend, Darvey Bosma, part way up East Hill in the Town of Cherry Valley, we saw two of his sons – Dave and Dan – with fly fishing rods in hand, each aiming their flies at water in joint compound buckets. After discerning what they were doing – practicing their angling technique – we marveled at the fluid motion of their wrists and their remarkable accuracy. They explained that their dad had recommended this setup to improve their skill and that they would soon be going on an outing to their favorite local creek in pursuit of trout. They wouldn’t tell us what creek, however, since it is a family secret.

Fly fishing has a long and rich history around the world and in the hills and valleys of upstate New York. The modern equipment includes a fly rod, a reel, weighted line, and a lure, known as a “fly.” The nearly weightless fly is crafted from various materials – such as fur, feathers, and silk, as well as some synthetics – tied onto a fishhook to resemble insects or other small creatures that will attract particular fish. Many anglers tie their own flies, and their artistry is inspiring. Fly fishing is the most challenging kind of casting. One has to develop the proper motion in swinging the long, flexible rod and causing the fly to hit the water’s surface accurately and gently. When the fish strikes, one has to have the proper timing to hook it and reel it in. The most common target fish for fly fishing has traditionally been trout and salmon, but some anglers go for other freshwater species including bass, pike, carp, steelhead, grayling, sunfish, and perch, as well as certain ocean fish, including striped bass, bonefish, redfish, snook, and tarpon.

Fly fishing goes back to ancient times. The first literary reference is found in the natural history writings of Aelian (Claudius Aelianus), a Roman of the 2nd and 3rd centuries. He described fishing methods in an unknown river in Macedonia he called the Astraeus. He wrote that the fishermen used rods, lines, and lures to catch “fishes of a speckled hue,” thought to be trout. The Treatyse on Fysshynge with an Angle was published in 1496 as part of the Boke of Seynt Albans (or Book of St. Albans), a compilation of activities favored by gentlemen, attributed to Dame Juliana Berners who is thought to have been an English  prioress. In it are found instructions on the making of rods, lines, and lures, with dressings for different flies to be used at different times of the year. It is thought that the first use of the term “artificial fly” appeared in the Izaac Walton’s The Compleat Angler, published in England in 1653. He referred to fly fishing as “the contemplative man’s recreation.”

Charles F. Orvis, founder of the  Orvis Company of Manchester, Vermont, in 1856 – the oldest mail-order retailer in the United States – began designing fly fishing reels and flies, which helped popularize the sport in North America. The 1874 Orvis reel is considered the first fully modern fly reel.

The Catskill Mountains have been referred to as “the birthplace of American fly fishing.”

The writings of Theodore Gordon about the Catskills in outdoor magazines of the late 19th and early 20th centuries – typically under the pseudonym Badger Hackle – also helped the sport grow. Gordon imported English fly fishing tackle and flies and altered them to match insects that hatched in the Beaverkill, Willowemoc, and Neversink, tributaries of the Delaware River. Other writers, many out of New York City, continued the literary tradition. People from around the world came to fish these and other Catskill  rivers. The Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum, located on Willowemoc Creek in Livingston Manor (about 95 miles south of Sharon Springs), celebrates this history.

Nearby Roscoe, near the intersection of the Beaverkill and Willowemoc, calls itself “Trout Town, USA.” Susan Benedict Hand, who now lives in Buel, part of  the Town of Canajoharie (her home in the Mohawk Valley about equidistant to Sharon Springs and Cherry Valley), grew up in Roscoe. Her grandparents, Frank and Josephine Keener owned the famous Antrim Lodge, where in the bar – “Keener’s Pool” – anglers would congregate, many of them well-known outdoor writers. Susan speaks of her life being enriched by the characters she met from all walks of life and the stories they told. As a child she also watched the famous fly tying couples, Walt and Winnie Dette and Harry and Elsie Darbee, at work. She remembers their workshops filled with feathers of pheasants and other birds. And Susan herself often went fishing on the Upper Beaverkill. But not with hands, worms, or any other means, family members insisted – only with fly rods, reels, and flies!

Another famous fly fishing creek in the Catskills is the Esopus, which feeds the Hudson River. It is named after the Esopus band of Lenni Lenape (Delaware) Indians, who fished its accessible banks for centuries. The high reaches of the Schoharie Creek near Indian Head Mountain are also famous for trout. The lower parts as the river, as it winds along the Schoharie Valley toward its outlet into the Mohawk River (passing about 20 miles east of Sharon Springs), are good for bass fishing.

Multicolored brook trout, native to the region, having been fished for a century and a half by devoted anglers, are now rare. But the DEC maintains hatcheries and now stocks German brown trout and rainbow trout, native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America.

Talking with Mark Hanlon, a local fly fisherman – actually a transplanted Englishman of Irish ancestry – has given us special insight on fly fishing in the region. He has traveled often to the Catskills to the south and is fascinated with the fishing lore and literature. But he has also sought out the perfect spot in the Adirondacks to the north and has fished the famous Ausable River that drains from the mountains into Lake Champlain.

“Finding a big trout is a challenge,” Mark says, “but if one can be satisfied with going after the smaller fish with a lighter fly rod, one has more options, such as in the smaller creeks in these more rolling hills around Cherry Valley and Sharon Springs. I have my secret spots.” Both Mark and John Bennett, a Scot from Glasgow recently visiting Cherry Valley after fishing the Ausable, both compare the local countryside and waterways to parts of the British Isles. Even though the fly fishing season is short, Mark explains, with the best trout fishing in the cool months of spring and fall, for those who are content with stillwater fishing rather than flowing brooks and who are happy to catch any fish that comes to the surface to feed – not just trout – there are lakes and ponds to seek out all summer. “I have a new JP Ross rod I’ve been using,” he proudly states.

For Mark fly fishing is actually a year-round activity since he ties his own flies. He makes a study of what insects are common at different locations, their behavior, and how fish respond to them. He takes advantage of roadkill for feathers or fur and favors silk as his third material. “I guess I’m a purist. The natural materials are more translucent,” he says. “But many fishermen now get good results with synthetics.”

Mark has his concerns. “The unusually warm spring made for a tough time this past April and May. Global warming is affecting us on so many levels. I’m hoping for a seasonally cool autumn.”  He also dreads the effects of fracking (hydraulic fracturing for natural gas) in New York State after what he has seen in parts of Pennsylvania. “The sport of fly fishing is for many about catch and release for conservation,” he says. “But waterways have to be protected for catch and release to matter.”

Fly fishing is Mark’s solitary, tranquil time. Even when he goes out with friends, each finds a different spot along a stream or lake. He is always working on his technique … targeting rings on the water’s surface that reveal fish below … letting the weight of the line control the fly … creating minimal disturbance on the water … letting the fly drift with the current as an insect might ride it … fooling the fish …

 

 

The History Boys are

Chris Campbell has made his permanent home in Cherry Valley, NY. The Campbell family dates back to 1739 in this town, situated about eight miles from Sharon Springs. Some family members were captured by Tories and Iroquois allies in the Cherry Valley Massacre of 1778 during the American Revolution and taken to Canada, released two years later in Albany as part of a prisoner exchange. Chris is a rare book and map collector and has had a lifelong interest in history, especially relating to upstate New York and colonial land patents. He was the founder and first chairman of the Cherry Valley Planning Board and has worked as a surveyor and realtor as well as a researcher for the Otsego County map department. His hobbies include Ham radio.

 

Carl Waldman, also living in Cherry Valley, is a former archivist for the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown. He is he author of a number of reference books published by Facts On File, including Atlas of the North American Indian and Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes, both originally published in the 1980s and both in their third editions. He is the co-author of Encyclopedia of Exploration (2005) and Encyclopedia of European Peoples (2006). Carl has also done screenwriting about Native Americans, including an episode of Miami Vice entitled “Indian Wars” and the Legend of Two-Path, a drama about the Native American side of Raleigh’s Lost Colony, shown at Festival Park on Roanoke Island in North Carolina. His hobbies include music and he works with young people in the Performance and Production Workshops at the Cherry Valley Old School.

Carl has recently published an ebook through Alva Press, Streetscape: A Jake Soho Mystery