Louise Bliss, head of the Hudson River Historic Boat Restoration and Sailing Society, has in recent years focused her energy on a wooden sloop sailboat, in need of much nurturing before it will be put back on its native Hudson River waters. The Eleanor is on the national and state historic registries. Bliss spent countless hours on the motorless boat, once owned by her father, voyaging many times all the way to New York Harbor. The following is a transcription of our talk Friday at the Hudson waterfront.

A team of local volunteers will start training Saturday to assess how successful aquatic species are in finding their way into the many culverts that drain water into the Roeliff Jansen Kill. The following is the full release outlining the project.

Whether you’ve had to pile in the car and head to Hudson or take a ride to Red Hook for a dinner out, Germantown has conspicuously been lacking its own communal restaurant for too long. On June 20, that is set to change with the grand opening of Gaskins, an eatery that will serve up moderately priced comfort food featuring local ingredients.

The owners, Nick and Sarah Gaskins, are thrilled to open a gathering place for the community where locals and weekenders can dine together and, as they will be residing above the restaurant, they point out that they’re here for the long haul. I got a chance to ask them a few questions about Gaskins. Here’s what they had to say

Voters will decide Thursday from Noon to 9 p.m. whether to approve the capital project at Germantown Central School. The proposed improvements to the school will be split into two separate propositions. In March, the proposed $11,382,056 project was voted down by a margin of 33 votes (345-312).

When I ran into Nancy Guski at a town of Red Hook meeting last month, she recognized me and called me by name. It had been at least fifteen years since I'd last seen my first-grade teacher. After catching up and telling her about the project I've got going, she kindly agreed to give an interview. The following is a transcription of the interview, which took place Sunday at her home in Red Hook.

The following is a fully transcribed interview with Leo Bower, a Greenport resident who grew up on North Front Street in Hudson and has a deep personal history with the group of structures referred to in recent years as the Furgary Boat Club. Others call it the North Dock Tin Boat Association. Leo Bower calls it what he says people called it when he was a kid: Shantytown. He mentions several names, at least a few of which I'm sure I've butchered. Please correct any misspelled names with an email to hrzeitgeist@gmail.com or in a comment below.

OVERVIEW

This was not a hum-drum week. We received reports of black bears, rattlesnakes, a huge snapping turtle, and aggressive Canada geese. The forests were fully leafed out, making birding a bit more challenging, Hudson Valley bald eagle nestlings were more than midway to their fledge dates, and the feel of summer was beginning to permeate our days.

In a canoe and kayak race sponsored by the Roe Jan Creek Boat Club Sunday, more than 50 people raced down a seven-mile stretch of the Roeliff Jansen Kill. The race, a fundraiser to benefit the American Cancer Society, raised $2,574.

51 people—plus a few rogue untimed competitors—started off just below Bingham’s Mills on the stream Sunday morning. Some paddlers capsized during the first two sets of rapids around the bend from the start and many overturned in the water downstream.

Like life and so many aspects of it, the Roeliff Jansen Kill can change pretty quickly. Due to several new downed-tree blockages in the upper section of the stream, the canoe and kayak race scheduled for this Sunday will now begin at Bingham Mills in Livingston.

It will now be an approximately 7-mile adventure for the racers, filled with patches of whitewater, peaceful sections and a few shallow stretches. Competitors may start any time between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. from downhill of 206 Mill Road (make sure to enter Bingham Mills Road from the Route 9 side). Competitors should arrange a drop-off there.

Editor’s Note: This is the first letter to the editor received by Hudson River Zeitgeist. Letters may be sent to hrzeitgeist@gmail.com. Any time a letter or multiple letters are received, they will be published collectively the following Saturday.

It is incorrect to characterize opposition to the Dollar General Store as an old timer/newcomer dispute. Over 180 long time and second homeowner Germantown residents signed a petition asking the Town Board to establish a committee to review and update the Comprehensive Plan and the Zoning Law and impose a moratorium (say 6 months) on commercial development along Route 9G while the committee is doing its work. Every day, more townspeople send us signed petitions supporting the request and opposing the building of a Dollar General store. Former supervisor George Sharpe, in his own letter to the newspapers and the town board, for just one example, unequivocally stated his opposition to the Dollar General on Route 9G. So it is probably more accurate to characterize opposition to the update and the moratorium as political posturing, but it should not be viewed as support for a Dollar General store in Germantown by long term residents.