The Woodstock Library Fair will bring a 95-year-old tradition to the institution’s new Dixon Avenue location on Saturday, July 25, with live music, bounce houses, a water slide, and, of course, plenty of books for sale. The fair runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Musical acts include kindie band Ratboy Jr., the Rock Academy […]

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A section of a car bumper may have been the biggest catch of the day on the Esopus Creek. Volunteers also hauled away beer cans, cigarette butts, a visor, two caps, plastic food wrappers, and a single black sock. It was all catch and no release at a cleanup on Saturday, July 18, organized by […]

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The Town of Olive took responsibility for some of the community frustration surrounding construction of a $90 million sewer project in Shokan. “Initially, there was a lot of miscommunication,” Olive Supervisor Jim Sofranko said in an interview. “A lot of things that could have been done better, that have been resolved.” Sharon and Ralph Vankleeck, […]

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Family, friends, and fellow emergency responders gathered in Kingston on Monday, July 13, to remember the longtime Woodstock Rescue Squad captain, who died July 1 at 51.

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Canadian wildfire smoke cast a gray haze over the Catskills this week, dimming mountain views and obscuring familiar landscapes. Photos by Roy Gumpel/The Overlook.

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About 30 people, including motorcyclists and a stilt walker, marched alongside a pink decommissioned hearse down Pine Hill’s historic Main Street on Saturday, July 11, in a Pride celebration intended to increase LGBTQ+ visibility in rural Catskills communities. Pride flags and banners hung from the Pine Hill Community Center and buildings along Main Street as […]

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There’s an old theater saying that an actor who overdoes it is “chewing the scenery.” In Catskill Mountain Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” however, little is more diverting than watching the actors play with the furniture. What begins as a deceptively calm living-room play, with strong whiffs of Chekhov, quickly gives way to something almost […]

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Assemblymember Chris Tague, whose 102nd Assembly District includes all of Greene and Schoharie counties and parts of Albany, Delaware, Otsego, and Ulster counties, said he had not realized the extent of the funding available through the Catskill Watershed Corporation until he attended the group’s annual meeting this week. “Until today I didn’t know the scope […]

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The possibility of combining Saugerties’ town and village governments drew cautious interest at a packed forum on Monday, July 13, as local officials and residents raised questions about taxes, services, and whether village residents would lose political influence. ShoutOut Saugerties, a volunteer-run community group, hosted the discussion at the Orpheum Theatre. The event focused on […]

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The village of Hunter is considering a ban on commercial-grade dumpsters on residential properties after complaints about bears and trash scattered through nearby yards. The proposal comes as the village prepares to end its municipal garbage pickup program at the end of July, leaving residents to bring their trash to the Hylan Road transfer station […]

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Greene County Solid Waste Management is seeking bids from contractors to upgrade the Windham Transfer Station on Mitchell Hollow Road, citing the aging facility and a lack of space to handle higher volumes of trash. The station, located on land owned by the town but operated by the county, was built in the mid-1980s. It’s […]

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The Ulster County Board of Elections narrowed 315 submissions to its annual “I Voted” sticker contest to six finalists and is leaving the final decision to the public. The board and a panel of volunteer judges from the local arts community selected the finalists, several of whom also entered designs in previous years. Voting is […]

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Good Friend Cafe in West Shokan has opened its doors, giving Olive residents a new place to grab a morning coffee, a breakfast sandwich or burrito, a midday hot dog, some candy, or just a place to hang out. Located next to the West Shokan Post Office, the cafe held its grand opening on July […]

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A 15-year-old Saugerties student pleaded not guilty Monday, July 13, to a charge of second-degree murder in the death of 88-year-old Elena Bonjolo. Mark J. Wanchik II entered the plea during his arraignment on an indictment returned by an Ulster County grand jury, according to the court clerk’s office. The proceeding was held in Ulster […]

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Air quality deteriorated to unhealthy levels across the Catskills on Wednesday afternoon, with readings above 170 in Hurley, Woodstock, and Saugerties and above 190 in West Shokan as Canadian wildfire smoke settled over the region. The smell of smoke and a pale haze were noticeable across Ulster and Greene counties as the AirNow Fire and […]

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The new president of Levon Helm Studios accused Amy Helm of concealing company records and mismanaging the business as two more August concerts were canceled at the Woodstock venue.  Brian Parillo, 48, a longtime shareholder who said he produced the first Midnight Ramble in 2004, accused Amy Helm of “malfeasance” in a statement posted Monday […]

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Levon Helm Studios, the storied and intimate Woodstock venue founded by the legendary late drummer of The Band, is in turmoil after a shift in voting control removed Helm’s daughter, musician Amy Helm, from management and put longtime shareholder Brian Parillo in charge. The change intensified a dispute among the family and business partners behind […]

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America’s 250th anniversary brought parades, music, and fireworks to the mountaintop on Saturday, July 4, as Windham and Tannersville marked Independence Day with community celebrations that stretched from afternoon into night. The Overlook’s staff photographer Roy Gumpel captured the festivities in both communities. Windham Windham’s annual Independence Day celebration drew spectators to Main Street for […]

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The Overlook has been named a finalist for New LION Business of the Year, a national award recognizing young independent news organizations working toward financial, operational, and journalistic sustainability. The Overlook is one of four finalists for the award, alongside COYOTE Media Collective in the San Francisco Bay Area, Pittsburgh-based Informup, and La Conner Community […]

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Windham’s sandcastle contest has become an Independence Day tradition. Now in its sixth year since being revived, the contest drew dozens of families to CD Lane Park on Saturday, July 4, to craft unique sand creations and enjoy free ice cream. Part of a full day of festivities marking the nation’s 250th anniversary, many of […]

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A New York City TikTok influencer’s critical video about a Tannersville supermarket has drawn millions of views and fierce backlash, opening a broader debate over food access in Greene County’s mountain towns. Catherine Ebs, who has 1.6 million TikTok followers, posted the since-deleted video on Friday, July 3, documenting a trip to the Tops Friendly […]

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David Baron was sitting in the audience at Bearsville Theater last October when U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr. gave him an unexpected shoutout from the stage. “I normally sit at the back and I enjoy that position,” Mullen said during a discussion following a screening of “Left Behind,” a documentary about five mothers seeking to […]

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James Lasdun, a Woodstock resident since the early 1990s, has published fiction, nonfiction, poetry, short stories, essays, and a memoir. He has also written screenplays and contributed to The New Yorker. In our conversation, Lasdun discussed his approach to writing “The Family Man,” an account of South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh and the murders of […]

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Shandaken’s Planning Board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a 50-foot wireless tower at the Big Indian-Oliverea Fire Department, addressing a service gap in the area. The tower will provide Verizon service within 0.4 miles of the firehouse at 8 Firehouse Rd. Customers of other carriers will be able to use the network for emergency 911 […]

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The Onteora Board of Education backed a proposal Tuesday that would give students in grades 3 through 5 the option of taking state tests with paper and pencil rather than on computers. The measure was one of three New York State School Boards Association resolutions endorsed by the Onteora board. The proposals could be added […]

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Shandaken Chief of Ambulance Services Richard Muellerleile is retiring after nearly 15 years in the role to focus on his family and family business, Star Gas Products. Deputy Chief Mike Williams will serve as interim chief. Muellerleile, who also served as a town firefighter and worked as an EMS coordinator for Ulster County, announced his […]

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Ulster County and Bard College have installed 17 street-level air quality monitors at libraries, town halls, and other community hubs, creating a countywide network intended to give residents more localized information about the air they breathe. Most air quality measurements come from rooftop EPA monitors in densely populated areas. The project seeks to fill gaps […]

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To say that New York State Forest Ranger Rob Dawson wears many hats is an understatement. Aside from his olive-green and black baseball cap, several helmets hang from the roof of his black Ford F-250, including a wildland firefighting helmet, a swift-water rescue helmet, a rock-climbing helmet, a snowmobile helmet, and a chainsaw helmet with […]

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Eight injured veterans traveled to Windham last week for three days of biking, kayaking, and community through the Adaptive Sports Foundation’s Warriors in Motion program. The program, hosted by Windham’s Adaptive Sports Foundation, ran from June 23 to June 25, with a schedule that included biking, kayaking, volleyball, kickball, and more. Founded in 1984, the […]

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Dawn Neal-Ellsworth, a longtime Woodstock Rescue Squad volunteer who rose to captain and kept responding to emergencies while battling cancer, died Wednesday, July 1, at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla. She was 51. Neal-Ellsworth was captain of Woodstock Fire Department Company 5, better known as the Woodstock Rescue Squad, where she had served for more […]

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