Radio Chatskill

The American Red Cross is grappling with a critical shortage of blood, as the national supply has dwindled by over 25% since July 1.

On Monday, the organization reported that severe temperatures and intense heat disrupted nearly 100 blood drives last month across almost every state where the Red Cross operates. 

The rock band Phish returns to Bethel Woods for a three-night residency this weekend. 

Thousands of fans will attend the shows at the site of the 1969 Woodstock Festival and, with camping now a part of Bethel Woods’ concert season, many of those fans will not be leaving at the end of the night.

To give them something to do when Phish is not performing, Bethel Woods has organized a "Camper’s Paradise" with everything from yoga, to movies, a makers park, and more live music.

Peter Negroponte is Bethel Woods Artist in Residence and Multi-instrumentalist with the band Guerilla Toss. 

He's curating the additional bands performing for Phish pre-show activities.  He spoke to Radio Catskill's Jason Dole.

In 2020, the Farm Arts Collective began a 10-year cycle of plays about climate change called "Dream on the Farm." 

"Conference for Those Still Living," the latest installation in the cycle, debuts this Thursday at 6:30. The play tackles themes of hope and activism.

WJFF's Tim Bruno spoke with Artistic Director Tannis Kowalchuk and writer Doug Rogers, who also performed music from the play!

Rob & Kim Rayevsky bought a 1980 British double decker bus in 2022, which was a retired tour bus in Philadelphia, Kim’s hometown.

First Rob painted it, then they transformed it into a commercial kitchen on the 1st floor, concessions windows for takeout, and tables on the 2nd for a bird's eye view and named it Double Up.

In her segment Eating Upstate, Erin Scherer shares the story of the Rayevsky's long held dream for an eat-in and take-out restaurant with locally sourced, healthy food that's also environmentally conscious. 

This week, Joe looks out for the Perseid meteor shower; shares secrets of ancient Herculaneum scrolls deciphered by AI; and explains the desert moss |"that can survive on Mars."

He spoke to Jason Dole. 

In 2016, Simone Biles – the most decorated gymnast of all time – told USA Today that: “A successful competition for me is always going out there and putting 100 percent into whatever I’m doing. It’s not always winning.”

This outlook is foundational to the Special Olympics, where athletes with intellectual disabilities get to put their all into local, national, and international competitions. 

Will Smith has been competing in local, nationwide and even international Special Olympics games since he was 14. Two decades later, he's also working for the organization, supporting their programming in the Hudson Valley region.

Radio Catskill reporter spoke to Smith about his athletic career, as well as a new PBS special documenting the 2024 Special Olympics New York State Winter Games. 

As the summer of 2024 unfolds, COVID-19 continues to display patterns that have become increasingly familiar over the past few years. Dr. Matthew Stupple, Medical Director at Ellenville Regional Hospital, talks with Radio Catskill's Tim Bruno about the evolving trends and ongoing risks associated with the virus during this season. 

Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York and Food Bank of the Hudson Valley provides 50 million pounds of food each year to 1,000 agencies in 23 counties of northeastern New York.

To meet growing demand, it is moving to a new 40,000-square-foot distribution center that will be twice the size of the food bank's current warehouse in Cornwall-on-Hudson. This move will enable the food bank to increase the capacity of food it distributes to 400 food pantries and soup kitchens in Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Rockland, and Putnam counties.

Felicia Kalan, the Executive VP of the Regional Food Bank, and Senior Public Affairs Officer Barry Lewis spoke to Radio Catskill's Patricio Robayo about this significant move.

David Driver’s The Stonewall Jukebox: A Documentary Concert tells the unknown, unexpected, and uplifting story of how The Stonewall Uprising came to be, and how it impacted contemporary L-G-B-T-Q+ culture.

It's at the Tusten Theatre in Narrowsburg next Saturday, August 10th. 

Radio Catskill's Tim Bruno spoke to David Driver about the show he calls "part musical performance, part little-known oral history."

The Blue Card, is a New York based national non-for-profit dedicated to supporting Holocaust survivors in need.

Founded in 1939 in the U.S., The Blue Card provides direct financial, medical and emotional assistance to Holocaust survivors struggling to afford such basics as adequate food and healthcare.

They are currently hosting a Summer Retreat at the Hudson Valley Resort & Spa in Kerhonkson, in Ulster County, for 40 Holocaust survivors in the New York area, who range in age from 79-105.

For many survivors, this is the only vacation they have all year.

Tim Bruno spoke to Milana Hazan, Associate Executive Director, of The Blue Card on Radio Chatskill.