News and Views from the Empire State
This episode of Kaatscast features 85-year-old Nick Lyons, writer and publisher on fly fishing.
This episode was recorded at the Jerry Bartlett Angling Collection in Phoenicia, NY, as part of the “Sporting Legends of The Catskills” series. [Read more…] about Catskills Sporting Legend Nick Lyon (Podcast)
Around the middle of March, I begin to feel that springtime urge to hit the road, to lace up the winter-neglected running shoes and start slogging through some miles.
My early-season jogs take me past a wetland area that stubbornly spans both sides of a road near my home. It’s a usual – and very welcome – happening to spot red-winged blackbirds here, even while snow lingers around the cattails and brushy willows. [Read more…] about Red-Winged Blackbird Epaulets Play Important Role
What did early Americans think about science? And how did they pursue and develop their knowledge of it?
In this episode of Ben Franklin’s World, Cameron Strang, an Assistant Professor of History at the University of Nevada, Reno and author of Frontiers of Science: Imperialism and Natural Knowledge in the Gulf South Borderlands, 1500-1850 (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press, 2018) joins us to investigate the early American world of science and how early Americans developed their scientific knowledge. [Read more…] about Frontiers of Science in Early America
Thanksgiving, with food a major holiday component, calls to mind a time of year that was once the subject of great anticipation: nutting season. I’m not old enough to have experienced it first-hand, although back in the 1980s I did explore many natural edibles. Among my favorites was beechnuts, which we harvested and used in chocolate-chip cookies. Outstanding!
But in days long ago, when many folks earned a subsistence living that utilized home-grown vegetables and wild foods, nutting season was an important time. [Read more…] about Nutting Season: An Old-Time Ritual
On Thursday, October 20, 2016 at 7 pm, the Fort Plain Museum will present “Sir William Johnson and the Evolution of the Mohawk Valley Fur Trade by Michael Perazzini. The presentation will take place at the museum located at 389 Canal Street in Fort Plain. This is the second of four lectures that will take place at the museum.
Perazzini will discuss the evolution of the fur trade in Upstate New York as well as the changes implemented by Superintendent of Indian Affairs Sir William Johnson. He will also display and lead a discussion about many of the artifacts involved in the fur trade. [Read more…] about Sir William Johnson and the Mohawk Valley Fur Trade
Hanford Mills Museum will hold a family-friendly Woodsmen’s Festival on Saturday, October 15 from 10 am to 5 pm. The daylong event, included with regular Museum admission, features lumberjack skills, woodworking demonstrations, exhibits, local vendors, live music, BBQ, kids’ activities, and the historic water-powered mill. [Read more…] about Woodmen’s Festival at Hanford Mills Museum Saturday
From its founding in 1893, and over the next 30 years, the Beaver River Club was the destination of many of the visitors to the Stillwater area.
It was the summer retreat of wealthy and influential families from Syracuse, Utica and to a lesser extent from throughout New York State. The decision to enlarge the Stillwater Dam and create today’s Stillwater Reservoir utterly destroyed this glittering outpost in the wild. Here is its story. [Read more…] about A Short History of The Beaver River Club
Historic Cherry Hill in Albany is inviting the public to travel back in time to the “Bunnie Kingdom” on Saturday, August 13, 2016.
The “Bunnie Papers” collection, gathered and named by Cherry Hill matriarch Catherine Rankin, immortalizes her children’s pet keeping hobby and their fascinating agricultural club. [Read more…] about Event Highlights ‘Bunnie Papers’ Collection, Cherry Hill Pets
Jurassic World, showcases the plight of executive directors of destination tourist sites in continually developing newer and more exciting exhibits to attract an increasingly bored public. The exhibits at Jurassic World are even more thrilling than our best American Revolution or Civil War reenactments. [Read more…] about Heritage Tourism Lessons from Jurassic World
From a lifetime of experiences, and reading nature books since childhood, it’s true that I should know a little more about wildlife than the average Joe, but I lay no claim to being an expert. Learning something new is a principal reason for reading books, and of late, I’ve had occasion to indulge in several excellent Adirondack-related titles written between 1840 and 1920.
In one of them, a particular passage caused me to stop, backtrack, read it again, and then one more time in disbelief. Since other animal behavior described in the book held true, I supposed this one should as well, but I had reservations. Above all, one thing was certain: confirmation would be hilarious, at least to my thinking. The claim was that bald eagles snore. And not only that: they snore LOUDLY. Experienced guides and hunters claimed it to be true. [Read more…] about Birds in History: New York’s Snoring Eagles?