Phoenicia Pharmacy on the block, hopes for independent takeover

Woodstock Times article.

(Photo by Dion Ogust)

A Phoenicia icon has been on the market since early April, with pharmacist Marty Millman contemplating retirement after 34 years in business at the Phoenicia Pharmacy. Millman, about to turn 78, is selling both the building, with an asking price of $395,000, and the business, also priced at $395,000, in the hope that he can find a buyer who will keep a pharmacy in operation at the site.

The Gordon Brothers Pharmacy operated for several years on the south side of Phoenicia’s Main Street, where Ruth Gale Realty is now located. Phillip and Joe Gordon built the present pharmacy building in 1950. When the Millmans arrived, they rented half of the building at first, then bought it from the Gordons in 1981. The Head-to-Toe Shop sold ladies’ clothing in the other half until that shop folded, when proprietor Dorothy Cutrone went to work for the pharmacy.

On a High Note

Story from the Chronogram on the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice.

• The Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice will be held on July 30-August 3

When the Phoenicia International Festival of the Voice returns to the Catskills this July, it will have raised the bar—about two octaves higher.

Celebrating its fifth season this year, the festival welcomes countertenor Brian Asawa to its mainstage. Asawa is one of the world's foremost countertenors, having brought his powerful, flexible, and impressively high vocal range to such world-class venues as the Metropolitan Opera, the Palais Garnier in Paris, and Madrid's Teatro Real. Capable of singing within typically female vocal registers—contralto, mezzo-soprano, and sometimes even soprano—countertenors are today relatively rare. The festival will feature Asawa in this summer's edition of "Voices of Distinction," a program of some of the most exceptional vocal works of the Baroque period. The artist will also host a free lecture titled "The Art of I'castratti," in which he will discuss the historic, long-abandoned practice of castrating young singers as well as the vocal aesthetic of a modern countertenor.

Another high note of the festival, and an accent of this year's Spanish theme, will be a staging of Gioachino Rossini's "The Barber of Seville." Based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comic French play of the same name, the opera buffa is one of the most popular and widely performed operas in the world—few today can hear its overture without Bugs Bunny coming to mind. Festival Executive Director Maria Todaro and internationally acclaimed baritone and Phoenicia newcomer Lucas Meachem will top the bill, singing the principle roles of the beautiful Rosina and the clever Figaro.

Brazil v. Germany

Embattled Mount Tremper farm stand moves to Olive, changes name

Story from Daily Freeman:

A sign outside the former Hanover Farms stand on state Route 28 in Mount Tremper announces the business’ relocation. Photo by Jay Braman Jr.

The embattled Hanover Farms stand has left the town of Shandaken for neighboring Olive and has changed its name.

Closed since last year for violating Shandaken restrictions regarding its size, the farm stand is relocating to the Olive hamlet of Shokan.

“FARM STAND RE-OPENING AT OLD BANK IN SHOKAN!” states a sign at the business’ former location on state Route 28 in the hamlet of Mount Tremper.

The site to which Hanover is moving, also on Route 28, was occupied by a Bank of America branch until the spring of 2013. Hanover owners Al and Alfie Higley have been setting up their business in a tent in the bank’s paved parking lot, near the former drive-up window.

A sign at the new site proclaims the business’ new name: Greenheart Farmstand.

World Cup 2014

Hudson Valley Weather

Posted to Facebook today at 1.45pm:

The Mid Hudson Valley from New Paltz to Saugerties is taking a pretty good beating at the moment. Frequent lightning, heavy rain and hail are impacting this region, please post observations below.

A Spacious Log Home in Chichester: Stony Clove Retreat

Chronogram article

"Aside from the terrific unspoiled wilderness feel of the area, and the wonderful neighbors, the best thing about owning a home in Chichester is the opportunity to belong to the Chichester Property Owners Association," says Marrazzo. "It's like a private club, with about 100 members, representing about 35 different families, mostly descended from people who owned summer places here in the 1940s."

Deborah DeGraffenreid