Hudson article for Only In Your State

http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-york/hudson-new-york-coolest-small-towns/

Former Replacements and Guns N’ Roses bassist appeared at Columbia Memorial Hospital’s Café

Former Replacements and Guns N’ Roses bassist appeared at Columbia Memorial Hospital’s Café., also pictured is Hudson's first female Mayor, Tiffany Martin Hamilton.

Hudson-area resident and former rock bassist for the Replacements and Guns N Roses Tommy Stinson joined fellow musician Chip Roberts to celebrate their love of cooking at CMH’s café. Photos by Eli Fanning.

A Short Take on the Hudson Athens Lighthouse

copyright 2016 Lisa LaMonica/Hudson Magazine
excerpt from Feb/March issue
hudsonmagazine.us
Subscriptions available

Imagine living in a lighthouse,
in the middle of
the Hudson River; during
summer intense thunderstorms,
or winter blizzards.
There was a time when the
Hudson River could completely
freeze over. People were able
to walk from Hudson to Catskill
or Athens across the surface
of the frozen river; something
hard to imagine today. The
Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, on
its granite base, is also known
as Stepping Stones Lighthouse.
This 1958 image shows three
men in a boat appearing to
be leaving the lighthouse. It
is now listed in the National
Register of Historic Places
and is also now a museum
chartered by the State of New
York. The navigation light, now
solar-powered, still serves to
warn of a nearby island called
The Flats where shipwrecks
have occurred with losses of
life. Managed and lived in by
a lighthouse keeper and his
family until 1936, the
Empire–style building has
eight ample rooms.  The fog
bell mechanism at the Hudson-
Athens Lighthouse would ring every 20
seconds for hours, warning of
thick fog. The bell alerted ships
to orientation and limited visibility
when the lighthouse light
was not enough. The Hudson-
Athens Lighthouse graced
the cover of the December 28,
1948, issue of The Saturday
Evening Post, with a drawing
of Emil Brunner, the last civilian
lighthouse keeper, and his
children, who all lived there.

 The Hudson-Athens Ferry was portrayed
in the 2005 Tom Cruise
film War of the Worlds, in which
Martians attacked the town,
the ferry, and refugees from
New York City who attempted
to flee across the Hudson River.
The Rip Van Winkle Bridge,
spanning the Hudson River
between Hudson and Catskill,
opened on July 2, 1935, at a
cost of $2.4 million.
 The bridge was
named after a short story of the
same name written by Washington
Irving, in which Rip Van
Winkle fell asleep for 20 years
in the Catskill Mountains after
an encounter with the ghost
of Henry Hudson and his men.

This is one of America’s oldest
and most beloved folktales.
In 17th-century Dutch times,
Kaatskill, as it was then known,
meant “Cat Creek.” Catamounts,
as they were then known, were
the mountain lions inhabiting
the region. These views of the
Rip Van Winkle Bridge, showing
portions of Catskill, Greene
County, and the Hudson River,
as well as Hudson, Columbia
County, and the Taconics and
Berkshire Mountains in the far
distance is courtesy New York
State Bridge Authority.
Reprinted with permission
from Images of America:
Hudson, by Lisa LaMonica.
www.arcadiapublishing.com
and also available at local bookstores.
Images:
Hudson Athens Lighthouse in fall and winter, courtesy Paul Abitabile, Columbia County Photo Club
1958 B/W Image courtesy Library of Congress
Rip Van Winkle Bridge images courtesy NYS Bridge Authority

A Short History of the Hudson Armory

Excerpt from upcoming April issue of Hudson Magazine.
hudsonmagazine.us. Copyright 2016 Lisa LaMonica

The Armory is seen here in a 1905 postcard. It stood at the corner of Fifth and State Streets and was built in 1898. These days, it is the home to the new Senior Center, Community Center and Hudson Area Library, with a Grand Opening Saturday, April 9.

Archival video footage of the December 31, 1928 Hudson Armory fire shows a vintage fire pumper and efforts to save the building. The footage is available on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpA_ViqNL_k.

Most of the drill shed was destroyed by fire in

1921. The Armory closed in the 1970s and had been owned privately.

It functioned as an armory for New York State National Guard units, and community events such as proms, auto shows, and Harlem Globetrotters basketball games were also held there. Units at the armory engaged in conflicts during the Spanish-American War, World War I, and World War II. Units received much local appreciation for assistance in 1900 while enforcing a quarantine order during a smallpox outbreak in Stockport. In 1917, a unit was dispatched to the Catskills to protect the reservoirs that supplied New York City’s drinking water after a German plot was uncovered to poison it.

The postcard reads: “ I wonder how you will find our darling little sister today.” -March 13, 1906. Reprinted with permission from Images of America: Hudson, Lisa LaMonica.

 Available from the publisher online at https://www.arcadiapublishing.com/Products/9781467122603. and at area bookstores.

Looking Forward to the New Senior Center

Dan Region photos, Armory entryway

 copyright 2016 hudsonmagazine.us
All images unless otherwise noted Lisa LaMonica
Excerpt from March issue Hudson Magazine

Touring the new Senior Center today inside the Armory building was inspiring. Located at State and South 5th Street and led by Amanda Henry, Commissioner for the Aging for the City of Hudson, all attending the tour were excited to see not only the restoration of the space but to hear about all of the exciting programs envisioned for seniors.
Inside the front doors are many framed images of the Armory by Dan Region, who all agreed are stunning to see.
 The larger 2nd floor room with a fireplace is where exercise and Bingo will take place. A kitchen located close to all rooms will help in hosting holiday parties, hopefully with Trixie's cookies and lots of other goodies. The smaller 2nd floor room, also with a fireplace will be where more pensive activities such as needle work, chess, language classes including Spanish and French, Book Club, Film Club and Friday afternoon art classes will take place.
Gretchen Kelly, Sher Stevens and I look forward to creating art with seniors on Friday afternoons when the center is up and running.
Visiting Hudson and the Armory today was architect Win Jackson who expressed happiness with how the building has been restored and commenting on the Arts and Crafts feel of the fireplaces said; "The beauty of the building has been retained here." With so many windows giving nice views of the neighborhood, light abounds in each space.
The lobby will be staffed by a local volunteer helping seniors with questions they may have about local programs and includes a sitting room to be furnished with local resource material.
Perfect Ten After School Program children will get to read to seniors and have expressed interest in helping with the housekeeping. A balcony will be where local musicians bring their talents for all to enjoy.

flower painting by Gretchen Kelly

The long awaited new Senior Center is going to be a vibrant and essential part of the Hudson community, which hopefully will attract seniors from many neighboring towns. We all look forward to the many diverse programs incorporating many local talented people supporting and enriching senior life.

Amanda Henry, balcony

Downton Abbey, WMHT, and Donating Art

Hillsdale, oil on canvas

I am pleased to be donating art and magazines to the gala.
hudsonmagazine.us
lisalamonica.com

Join us on Saturday,
March 5 from 6pm to 10pm for the Downton Abbey Gala Celebration at The Desmond Hotel Albany.
Purchase your tickets here: http://www.wmht.org/downtonabbeygala
Don't miss a moment of the final season. Watch Downton Abbey on MASTERPIECE | PBS Sundays at 9pm through March 6, 2016.

Copake Lake, oil on canvas

The Creativity of Snow

39,327 views since October; thanks to all who read us..copyright 2016 Excerpt from January issue Hudson Magazine, hudsonmagazine.us. Subscriptions available.

Images courtesy of Chronicle Books.

This issue of Hudson
Magazine is mostly
devoted to color in hopes
of lessening the post holiday
blues and winter doldrums
experienced by many. I personally
have never minded winter
even with all of its challenges.
To me, each season has its own
beauty and something to celebrate
as well as the creativity
it inspires. Even the shadows
of dead tree branches on snow
can be stunning and peaceful.
Winter is a time of dread for
many people, who also complain
that January is devoid
of color. Color is all around us,
even in the seemingly bleakest
times of the year.
Since there is no straight
white in nature, snow has
many colors if you really look,
and of course at certain times
of the day depending on the
light, this can be beautiful. Art
instructors will scold anyone
trying to use straight white
from the tube of paint if trying
to convey snow. Other colors
are added to white from the
tube to indicate snow such as
orange, violet gray, paynes gray,
ultramarine blue, and even red.
I n
Wi n s lo w
H o m e r ’ s
Sleigh Ride,
we see the
depth of
the snow
in the road
at dusk due
to the colors
used.
From Olana,
Frederic
C h u r c h ’ s
winter lovely snow scene illustrated
the lavender, violet gray
and pink seen sometimes on
snow.
Day time, twilight or night
time in winter are all beautiful
times. Look at winter with different
eyes now. What colors do
you see?