It’s back to being one of the most exciting times of year on the Hudson River. Local anglers are beginning to report success in landing both herring and some Striped Bass in the area. Spend any time around the river in the coming weeks and you’re likely to see pickup trucks rumbling along the access path, fishing boats out on the water and lines extending from shore. For many in this area, the famous Hudson River Striped Bass runs is the time each year that everything else life demands nearly fades away and the first priority is getting out on the water, and often.
Read moreInside the Dollar General Proposal that has Germantown All Riled Up
A real estate broker from the Hudson area may not have realized what he was about to set off when he approached the owners of the Quality Garden Center and Quality Landscaping. The broker played middle man between the property owners and Primax Properties, the developers who are hoping to build a Dollar General store on Route 9G in Germantown.
Even though the eventual decision on whether the store will be built will be for the five members of the town’s planning board to decide (and possibly the five people on the zoning board of appeals), the potential store has been a major source of debate among the town’s citizens.
Read moreThe Story of Eugene & Patricia Pielli
Editor’s Note: This is the first in a regular series of transcribed interviews with local citizens. Many thanks to Eugene and Patricia Pielli of Germantown for their kindness in telling their story.
Where were you born?
Eugene: Both my wife and I were born in Manhattan, Mid-Manhattan. Both raised in Mid-Manhattan. I was on 56th between First and Second and my wife was on 66th between Second and Third. We met at Bloomingdale’s—I was an associate buyer and my wife was the store detective.
Read moreLentil-tomato Soup with Kale and Italian Seasonings
Such protein! So few calories! So healthy! So simple! This is another recipe that gets me warm inside—I think it’s the basil and oregano and tomatoes in a can, which are the flavors of my childhood.
I had the flu recently and started fever-dreaming about making this soup once I got my appetite back—I was in pretty desperate need of some restorative nutrients by Friday evening, and this hit the spot. Plus, it’s easy and low-maintenance, so I could lie down pretty much the whole time it was cooking. It’s basically a red sauce with lentils and kale living in it. Rustic, and classic. Yum.
Read moreSix Takeaways from Thursday's Hudson River Summit
More than two dozen speakers shared their river knowledge with roughly 400 people crowded in a Poughkeepsie conference room Thursday for the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s 2015 Hudson River Summit. It was the first summit since 2009 and coincided with the release of the DEC’s new State of the Hudson report.
There was lots of talk and enthusiasm, but let’s get right into the most important and concrete things discussed.
Read moreJeff Beck Playing Kingston Tuesday
Iconic guitarist Jeff Beck is scheduled to lead his band to the Ulster Performing Arts Center in Kingston on Tuesday, April 21.
Rolling Stone’s fifth-ranked guitarist of all time, Beck has been leaving a deep imprint on the music scene for more than half a century. He is twice enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame—once for his solo work and once with The Yardbirds. The multi-Grammy Award winner is a widely celebrated innovator in the electric guitar world. He plays the whole guitar (sans pick), deftly maneuvering the fret board, controlling the volume and tone knobs, and manipulating the whammy bar.
Read morePreparing for Future Catskill Creek Flooding
Tropical storms Irene and Lee and Superstorm Sandy caused $3 million in damage to structures within the Village of Catskill, and more preparation for flooding and expected sea level rise must be done, according to a flooding resiliency task force report released by the state Department of Environmental Conservation this week.
The village is situated on both sides of the Catskill Creek near its mouth. During storms it can face both the effects of water draining from much of Greene County on the creek and coastal storm surges advancing up the Hudson River combining with high tide...
Read moreRemembering the Time All Germantown Residents' Guns Were Taken
Three hundred years before New York’s Safe Act, a much more dramatic gun grab, enforced personally by a New York governor, hit the residents of Germantown.
It was the spring of 1711 and about 1,500 Palatine Germans lived in four dense camps along the Hudson River.
The German refugees had been sent by England a few months earlier, but had received few of the supplies to settle the wilderness that they had been promised...
Read moreWelcome to Hudson River Zeitgeist
By WILLIAM SHANNON
Welcome to Hudson River Zeitgeist, a new local media website set to deliver a unique blend of news covering Germantown, Hudson, Red Hook, surrounding towns, and important information related to the Hudson River.
Among other things, this site will deliver analysis of local issues, outdoor reports, transcribed interviews with elderly citizens in the area and stories about the Hudson River’s science, culture and history. This site may also, from time to time, temporarily turn into a travel and adventure blog.
My hope is that this website will grow and evolve into a vehicle to explore, on its more serious days, the depths of the human experience in the Hudson Valley, and, on its lighter days, the adventurous and fun things to do within a half-hour’s drive of the main coverage area.
I’m from Germantown, and live there now, in a cottage overlooking the fast-changing Hudson. I generally embark each year on a paddling voyage down the Hudson River from Troy to New York City—to think, reconnect with the river, and just for the adventure.
I started out in journalism with the Hudson Register-Star and have written stories for The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Minneapolis Star-Tribune.
This website will start publishing stories this week and will grow to include new insightful voices in the weeks to come. Pertaining to the name of the site, the German word “Zeitgeist” translates to “spirit of the time.”
To keep connected, please follow Hudson River Zeitgeist on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hudsonriverzeitgeist. Any comments, questions or suggestions can be sent to hrzeitgeist@gmail.com.
Thank you for taking the leap with me. I hope you will find what’s to come here useful.
