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"Hmmmmm, you have not written anything in two days. I hope you are busy having a wonderful life and not just sick of us.I miss you in the morning!" BD
Good Monday Morning,
Yes, I'm sorry I took the weekend off from this unpaid, volunteer labor of love. And yes, I was having a wonderful life, one that began on Saturday evening at the cabaret show at Arts on the Lake and ended last evening in Danbury at a David Rovics concert. (Actually, it ended at Cousin Larry's pub down the road from the Rovics venue, but that's another story...)
Lightning strikes twice
 When the houselights dimmed on Saturday night over a full house at the Cultural Center on Lake Carmel, a thunderstorm raged outside the theater while Doug Coates and Nancy Johnston took the stage in a cabaret style Broadway review directed by Blue Horse Repertory's Peggity Price. From Sondheim to Bernstein to Jones and Schmidt and everyone in between, using advanced lighting cues, complex staging and dialog to connect one number to the next, the storms outside were forgotten by the lightning storm of talent and musical harmony on the stage in what is rapidly becoming our county's most successful theatrical and arts venue. That was until near the end of the first act when lightning struck the building with a flash and a !clap! that set our ears to ringing - but the performers and crew never missed a beat. The audience laughed, and the audience cried and, in the second act when Mr. Coates performed the piano arrangement of George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", they cheered. I mean, they really cheered! And, at the end of an encore, "Glitter and Be Gay" from Leonard Bernstein's excellent, yet under appreciated theatrical version of "Candide", the audience erupted from their seats giving soprano Nancy Johnston a long, enthusiastic and well deserved standing ovation which over shadowed the raging storm outside.
 David Rovics, a native of New England, brought his musical tour of topical protest songs back to the northeast last evening in the Danbury Music Center, housed in the historic old Library building on Main Street in that fair, and vibrant city. Pete Seeger once called David 'the Phil Ochs of our time.' David pulls no punches with his sentiments and his audiences wouldn't expect less. He touches on subjects such as the destruction, some say intentional, of New Orleans from hurricane Katrina. He sings about the infamous raids on the Jenin refugee camp. He sings about how this current war against Iraq was - for a very short time - called "Operation Iraqi Liberation" whose acronym, O. I. L. was quickly changed by the Bush administration to hide the real meaning of the war. He also sings about love, life and all that goes around us. I've known David personally and professionally for many years and over that time his voice still holds true, his convictions have strengthened and matured and his message is still dead-on sharp.
While we're talking about music, if anyone attended the Tompkins Corners Country Music Festival on Sunday, please drop us a line and let us know how it went.
 PlanPutnam reader Beth Coursen, supervisor for the Town of Pawling, sent me a link to a blog page about the now closed Guinan's Pub on the shores of the Hudson River at Garrison Landing. Attempts to reuse the space have overwhelming support from old fans of the pub as well as those who think there should be an active commercial establishment at that location as there has been for decades. The blog is a good read. Beth writes:
"Humans have been making land use decisions since we first took refuge in caves. We have made some poor decisions and nature lets us know; buildings, roads and bridges fall under the forces of nature when they are poorly placed or constructed. In some regards number 7 Garrison Landing seems poorly placed. There is nothing remarkable in its construction. The packed backroom here has often defied the forces of physics. The only explanation is that a greater force, that of human spirit has kept this humble structure intact. Number 7 Garrison Landing wants to be a gathering place. Its real foundation is the human spirit. This is all that keeps her perched above the Hudson." There's a rumbling from the left-of-center political camp in the 19th Congressional district. Community activist Don Debar has thrown down the gauntlet to incumbent Congressman John Hall. Debar says, "John Hall was elected in 2006 to end the Iraq war and bring the troops home. In his two years in Congress, he has instead voted to send the Pentagon and George Bush more money than they had before he entered Congress," Debar says that if Mr. Hall votes for additional funding for the war he will seek the Green and Working Family Party's nomination to challenge Mr. Hall in November. It looks like this race is heating up!
And, while we're on this subject, Congressman Hall's other announced opponent, Kieran Lalor's signs are still up all over the district. If Walt Thompson of the rather excellent "Keep Putnam Beautiful" program is reading this, get that litter cleaned up! Putnam County recently passed a tough new littering law. If the law isn't just window dressing and the Legislature means what it passed, this should be their first target.
Reader Evelyn Charito of Dover Plains wrote in to tell us about a press release from the Coalition for the Responsible Growth of Dover (CRGD) which has rallied around the proposed "Dover Knolls" development at the old Harlem Valley Psychiatric Hospital, the largest development proposal in that valley - ever. Original plans painfully hammered out between past Supervisor Jill Way and the developer were scuttled when the developer spent thousands of dollars to unseat Jill's board, the one that demanded that "Dover Knolls" be an environmentally sensitive, walkable community with local services built in. The developer just wants to slap hundreds houses all over the place, in and on the uplands of the Great Swamp. Now with the new town board, bought and sold, he's close to achieving that goal so support of the Coalition is essential. If you are at all concerned about traffic on lower Route 22, this is something that should make you sit up and pay attention!
Several weeks ago I wrote about the lack of bats in the area. The reasons are now well known - they're dying by the millions in their hibernation caves from a disease we know little about. PlanPutnam reader Doreen Tignanelli sent this in late last week:
"...I attended a presentation at Stonykill Farm given by DEC bat expert, Al Hicks. The talk was both fascinating and depressing. In the past year, there has been a dramatic change in bat population in New York as tens of thousands of cave bats are dying due to "white nose syndrome". It gets its name from the white fungus appearing on the noses of many of the dead bats. At this point, scientists don’t know if the fungus is killing the bats or some other ailment is killing them. The bats are basically starving to death, leaving their caves in the middle of winter when they should be hibernating. New hibernaculums are being found due to the presence of bats dead or near death at cave entrances. In Hailes cave, it was the first time since surveys started in the 1930's that no Indiana Bats were observed. The cave had 15,584 bats in 2005 and in 2008 there were 1,400 which is a 91% decline. There are similar stats in other caves. It is killing >90% of bats in affected sites within 2 years. The irony of the situation is that until this year, Al was working on getting Indiana Bats off the endangered species list as their numbers had increased significantly since the 1960's."
Lastly for this Monday morning, I know many of you have heard the rumors, and they're true! I'm holding a little gathering on Saturday July 12th at 3PM in the afternoon, to which you are all invited. And you really should come, too. The Summer Garden Party is back. This is an event I used to organize years ago and have yet to hold one since coming to Putnam County in what will be ten years this fall. Visit this web page to find out more and to RSVP. (Address and directions will be sent after you RSVP.) If you're not here you're going to be really sorry you missed out, I can promise that. The gathering is child, dog, and even Republican friendly. A live music, pot luck, picnic in beautiful Kent Cliffs, NY, the heart of the Hudson Highlands. Please carpool, hike or bike over. Special parking arrangements will be made for those with physical handicaps.
There are other news events happening out there in this great, wide world of ours but from my desk this cloudy Monday morning, this is the News That Matters.
JmG
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