Radio Chatskill

You may have heard of a wine sommelier, but what about a honey sommelier? 

Donna DeFalco, is a professional honey sommelier and board member of the American Honey Tasting Society, and she is leading a Honey Connoisseurship Holiday Workshop, at the Narrowsburg Union hosted by Catskills Curated. Donna will guide attendees through the art of honey tasting, helping them develop an appreciation for the diverse range of honey profiles.

She brought some honey to the Radio Catskill studios for an on-air tasting. 

Discussing cognitive decline or end-of-life planning may not seem like the most cheerful topic for a holiday gathering, but starting the conversation now can help ensure that everything is in order when the time comes. 

Willow Baum and Christina Wall from Friend for the End joined Radio Chatskill's Tim Bruno to offer advice on how to approach these sensitive topics with loved ones during the holidays, helping to understand their wishes regarding aging, illness, and end-of-life decisions.

The Metropolitan Opera's acclaimed series of live high-definition cinema simulcasts, The Met: Live in HD, returns to SUNY Sullivan's Seelig Theatre this Saturday, December 7, with an encore presentation of Julie Taymor's production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute" on Saturday, December 7. 

Patricia Adams from SUNY Sullivan Foundation and Dan Rigney from SUNY Sullivan appeared on Radio Chatskill to discuss the series with "Classical Kit." 

The Met: Live in HD season continues with Verdi’s "Aida" on January 25, 2025, followed by Beethoven’s "Fidelio" on March 15, 2025.  Mozart’s "Le Nozze di Figaro" will be transmitted on April 26, 2025,  Strauss’s "Salome" on May 17, 2025, and Rossini’s "Il Barbiere di Siviglia" on May 31, 2025. All performances, except for "The Magic Flute," are live simulcasts from the Met stage. All performances are Saturday matinees.

“From its beginning, The Met: Live in HD was created to connect the Met to a global audience,” said Peter Gelb, the Met’s Maria Manetti Shrem General Manager. “We’re glad to see audiences around the world beginning to return to cinemas in larger numbers since the end of the pandemic.”

Tickets for the Seelig Theatre presentations are $25 for general admission. Discounts are available for Met Opera Members and seniors at $20, students at $10, and children under five at $5. Tickets can be purchased online at sunysullivan.edu/met-opera/, or at the door. 

“The College is thrilled to present Metropolitan Opera programs in our own Seelig Theatre,” said SUNY Sullivan President David Potash. “Thanks to generous contributions from the SUNY Sullivan Foundation, this and other programming brings the arts to our community.”

The Seelig Theatre opens 30 minutes before each screening.  Proceeds from the event benefit the SUNY Sullivan Foundation.

Deep Water Literary Fest will host a holiday benefit featuring music, cocktails, and immersive vignettes at The Darby Hotel. The event will feature vignettes performed in the hotel's rooms. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy performances by acclaimed actors Dylan Baker and Becky Ann Baker, as well as Flirty Riot and Willow Gatewood. 

The Deep Water Literary Fest 2025 returns June 20-22, 2025, in Narrowsburg, NY.

The latest Kaatscast podcast delves into the fascinating life and career of Morris Katz, a Polish-born Holocaust survivor and acclaimed painter known for his lightning-fast painting technique using a palette knife and toilet paper! Recognized by the Guinness World Records, Katz captivated audiences with his vibrant performance art in the Catskills, creating over 280,000 pieces.

You'll learn about his unique method, his impact on Jewish cultural history, and recent exhibitions celebrating his work. Listen for an in-depth story about this charismatic and prolific artist, and discover how one host's bid on a Katz painting sparked a journey of discovery.

Kaatscast is a biweekly series featuring Catskills culture, history, sustainability, local interviews, literature, and the arts. Shows are hosted by Brett Barry and produced by Silver Hollow Audio, in the heart of the Catskills. Voted “Best Regional Podcast” three years in a row.

The Wayne County Arts Alliance (WCAA) 8th annual seasonal art sale, Art Under $100 and More, kicked off on Saturday and it runs throughout the month of December at the WCAA headquarters, located at 959 Main Street in Honesdale, PA. 

Janet Gaglione is the Executive Director of WCAA and she discussed opportunity to give a unique gift of art  on Radio Chatskill. 

Voters in the Livingston Manor and Roscoe Central School Districts will go to the polls on Thursday, Dec. 19, to decide whether the two districts should merge. Polls will be open from noon to 8 p.m. at the gymnasiums of both schools. 

The proposed merger aims to enhance academic and extracurricular opportunities for students while providing financial stability for the community.  A series of meetings have been scheduled to provide voters with more information about the proposal:

* Dec. 3: Roscoe PTA meeting at the Roscoe Diner at 7 p.m.

* Dec. 11: Roscoe Free Library at 3 p.m.

* Dec. 12: Livingston Manor Free Library at 6 p.m.

* Dec. 16: LMCS Board of Education meeting at 6 p.m.

* Dec. 17: RCS Board of Education meeting at 4:30 p.m.

The merger process was prompted by a change in the state's merger aid calculation formula, which could result in approximately $30.7 million in aid over 14 years for the combined district. This represents a $23.5 million increase under the previous formula.  

According to the districts, a majority of respondents at both districts' May budget votes indicated support for revisiting the merger proposal in light of the new aid formula.  A merger study addendum was completed and approved by the State Education Department in September.  Following a unanimous vote by both boards in October to proceed with the merger process, the required number of signatures was collected in each district.  The boards formally approved the signatures and voted to move forward with the reorganization process on Nov. 7.  The resolutions were forwarded to the BOCES district superintendent to initiate the formal reorganization process with the State Education Department, which formally approved the vote date of Dec. 19 on Tuesday, Nov. 26.

To be eligible to vote, residents must be 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and district residents for at least 30 days.  Residents must also be registered to vote at their county board of elections.  Unregistered residents can register before Dec. 13 at their district’s main office between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. while school is in session. 

More information about the merger is available on the merger page of each district’s website.  Residents can direct questions or concerns to Superintendent John Evans at [email protected] or [email protected], by phone at 607-498-4126, ext. 6105, or 845-439-4400, ext. 1201, or by contacting a member of either district’s school board. 

In 1995, at the age of 70, Barbara Yeaman spearheaded the creation of the Delaware Highlands Conservancy (DHC), a land trust based in Hawley, PA. Recognizing the rapid development taking over the region, Barbara was determined to make a meaningful impact.

She filed for non-profit status and, leading by example, demonstrated the conservancy's mission by placing a conservation easement on her own 12-acre property in Milanville, PA.

Since then, the conservancy has preserved over 20,000 acres in the Upper Delaware River Region, encompassing Pike and Wayne Counties in Pennsylvania as well as Sullivan and Delaware Counties in New York.

Farm and Country's Rosie Starr recently spoke with Barbara Yeaman as she celebrates her 100th birthday.

The first taste of winter brought more than snow to The Catskills and Northeast Pennsylvania, as thousands spent hours or even days without electricity.

A primary reason for these outages, according to NYSEG, was the consistency of the snow that fell from Thursday night into Friday.

Senior Communications Manager for NYSEG Shelby Cohen told WBNG in Binghamton, “When wet heavy snow falls and those trees fall, they can fall onto our lines and the trees themselves take a lot of load when the snow accumulates that’s very heavy and very wet and that can contribute to outages as well,” 

In Pennsylvania, at one point on Friday, the PPL Electric Utilities outage map showed about 78,000 customers affected in an area stretching from Northeast Pennsylvania to the Lancaster area..

Power is back for most folks across the region. One of the local areas hardest hit during the snowstorm was the Town of Highland, New York.

We spoke to John Pizzolato, Town Supervisor at Town Of Highland, about the community's resilience and lesson learned from the snowstorm.