The annual Thanksgiving Day football game has entered the pantheon of American holiday activities. Lawn football games are a tradition that play out on campuses, in neighborhoods and parks all across the country. Geoff Welch was on hand when a collection of  Sloatsburg sons got together during Thursday morning’s chill to play a spirited game of football on the adjoining Lawns of Harmony Hall and the Sloatsburg Public Library. Continue Reading

By now you’ve heard that this year menorahs come out in time for the big cooked bird celebration — yes, that woody turkey that Americans have ever feasted on for years as symbol for the lean years. Now, for the first time in some 100 years (or since old Abe officially announced “Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heaven” in 1863), Hannukkah and Thanksgiving intersect on the calendars. Happy Thanksgivukkah. Continue Reading

The “Christmas Train,” one of those unique Sloatsburg holiday traditions, will wind its way through the village this year on Saturday, December 7. For some 60 years now, the Sloatsburg American Legion Post No. 1643 has partnered with other veteran groups and organizations — most recently with the Sloatsburg Volunteer Fire Department — to drive a little holiday cheer throughout the village. Continue Reading

Sloatsburg UMC Food Pantry Director Susan Meyers (center) confers with her team of volunteers as they prepare for Thanksgiving.

The Sloatsburg UMC Food Pantry is a quiet hive of activity this time of year — the holidays. The pantry gathers resources from around the area, especially the Tuxedo and Sloatsburg communities, and provides a powerful draw that pulls people together for a common cause — to help care for those with a little less. Continue Reading

The Annual Tuxedo/Sloatsburg Community Thanksgiving Service will take place on Tuesday, November 26, 7:30 p.m. at St. Joan of Arc Church in Sloatsburg. Special guest Bishop George Langberg, St. Elizabeth’s Anglican Church, Eagle Valley, will lead the service. Continue Reading

The glitter is swirling at Jasmine as the home goods and specialty gift store in Southfields prepares for its 5 year anniversary. Join everyone at the store Monday, November 25, from 3 to 8 p.m., when all is revealed as the unveiling of this year’s complete Holiday 2013 collection takes place.

Jasmine will offer  20% off your entire purchase* (see coupon below). Certain exclusions do apply. See store for full details.

Monday, November 25, most items bought at the store will come with the discount. Check out Jasmine on Facebook here.

“All of our things are designer driven,” said owner Yassaman. “Most of our jewelry is bought because of the designer. We’re like a personal department store for women. We have things to make the home beautiful and to make yourself feel good — at a decent price.”

When you visit the store, be sure to visit the Holiday Homes loft that has displays for nearly every season and holiday. The loft is open year round so if you need that special St. Patrick Day’s or Easter gift, check it out.

Yasserman has traveled all over the world to hone her collections.

Jasmine is located at 979 Route 17, Southfields NY.  Open Monday through Sunday. Call 845-351-1101 for information.

Pat O’Brien of the Sloatsburg Seniors lights the birthday cake for Mary Buckley’s 100th Birthday.

To read through the proclamation is to wander casually through a rich and expansive moment in time — the 20th century in all its panoramic color. Black and white momentos of Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. New Jazz Age sounds and the incorporation of Sloatsburg itself in 1929. Soldiers and people parading through the streets of Suffern, leaving for foreign lands and returning flush with experiences. Continue Reading

By Geoff Welch, Ramapo River Watershed Keeper 

Mohonk Mountain House, site of the HudsonRiver Watershed Alliance conference.

Last week, I attended The Hudson River Watershed Alliance’s annual conference, titled “A Watershed Moment: Changing Climate & the Future of Our Water Resources held, at the scenic Mohonk Mountain House outside New Paltz, New York on the Shawangunk Ridge. The program was co-sponsored by Mohonk Consultations. Continue Reading

Rockland County Fire and Emergency Services Director Gordon Wren Jr., at podium, with Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco to discuss Clausland. Photos: Craig Sherman & Bill Demarest

The Clausland Mountain brush fire was finally contained and doused – with a little help from the weather.

A spark on a mountain in Blauvelt State Park turned into an aggressive fire that tested county resources and eventually turned into a showcase for the Rockland County rescue and response communities as they united and swiftly went to work on the Clausland Mountain rings of fire. Continue Reading

The flickering flames of Clausland Mountain in southern Rockland County were a fiery siren call and  Thursday and Friday to firefighters and reporters alike. Photographer Kenny Flynn was on location in Orangeburg and took fantastic night shots of the burning mountain from in back of Tappan Zee High School.

As reported by Bill Demarest of the Nyack Free Press, “the fire was discovered at about 1:15 p.m. on Thursday behind Nice Pak Products along Greenbush Road.” The fire swept along rapidly across the dry brush of the mountain and the entire firefighting effort was scaled to include volunteer firefighters from throughout Rockland County as well as aid from Westchester, Bergen and West Point. A military helicopter used a special bucket to drop water on the fire Thursday afternoon, reported Demarest:

Flames race across Clausland Mountain Thursday night. Photographer Kenny Flynn caught the dangerous blaze in full, dancing color.

Volunteers from neighboring fire departments ranging from Nyack and New City to Congers and Pearl River were soon called in to assist with manpower and equipment at the bottom of the mountain. Volunteers and crews from EMS units such as Nyack Community Ambulance Corps have also set up at the top of the mountain at Orangetown’s Nike Park.

Firefighters were pulled off the steep slopes of the mountain as nighttime operations in the dark became too dangerous. The fire, as of Thursday night, had affected more than 30 acres of Orangetown and Rockland County park land and firefighters were planning to return to the mountain at about 8 a.m. to continue working on the fire.

However, firefighters returned to the mountain overnight to protect homes along Greenbush Road, where homeowners feared approaching flames could affect their homes. Nyack firefighters are now at the area of 73 Tweed Boulevard fighting brush fires that have reached the narrow road at the top of the mountain on its east side.

According to Nyack Free Press, “Rockland County fire officials attribute the brush fire to extremely dry conditions created by a lack of rainfall recently, with leaf piles on the ground fueling the fire. Early Thursday, the National Weather Service had issued an alert for the region warning that extremely dry conditions have created a brush fire danger.

The night time sky was lit up all along the Hudson Valley from the fire on Clausland Mountain. The full report along with some amazing images of the blaze can be found at Nyack Free Press.

Firefighters from across the region are still at work on the blaze.

Photos of the Clausland Mountain fire photos courtesy of Kenny Flynn.