May, 2010 - The Nyack Villager

TheNyack Villager ® 

An independent monthly news magazine celebrating life and the arts in the Hudson River Villages 

May 

2010 

Originally Prerevolutionary Farmhouse 

North Cottage of the Moorings 

Dr. Bernard’s Highmount Cottage 

Queen Anne Style 

The Great Nyack House Tour Story on page 6 

Watercolors by Beverly Bozarth Colgan 

PRST STD 

US Postage 

PAID 

permit no. 

5432 

WHITE PLAINS NY 

Nyack Villager® Villager On Hudson® 

Mailed to every resident of eight river villages—Upper Nyack, Nyack, Central Nyack, South Nyack, Grand View, Upper Grandview, Piermont and Palisades NY.

2 The Nyack Villager May, 2010

In this issue 

Departments 

3 REPORTER AT LARGE 

• Nyack’s Memorial Day Parade 

• Nyack Playwright at Penguin Rep 

• Engel Votes No 

• Local Mom Makes Bid For Seat on School Board 

• For People Who Eat 

• Starring Sarah Palin 

8 MAY AMUSEMENTS Art & entertainment this month 

10 COMMUNITY NOTES What else is happening in May 

18 LETTERS to The Nyack Villager 

22 HOUSES OF WORSHIP Religious services in the river villages 

24 CALENDAR Highlights in May 

25 OP-CALENDAR PAGE useful local phone numbers 

Columns 

4 FROM THE OUTSIDE IN by Thom Kleiner: The Republicans and 

the perils of financial reform 

10 REMEMBER THE DAYS? Jim Leiner on Camp Bluefields 

12 RIC’S PICKS Ric Pantale on the Warner Brothers, Part 2 

14 HOME TOWN LAW by Peter Klose, Esq. 

16 PET CARE Dr. Peter Segall on misbehavior in cats 

18 THEY GOT WHAT?! Donna Cox on current trends in real estate 

19 TO THE THEATRE Holly Caster on fine theatre in the Berkshires 

26 THE LIFETIME GARDENER Jon Feldman on issues of privacy 

Features 

6 THE GREAT NYACK HOUSE TOUR The Historical Society 

of the Nyacks selects 10 great houses to visit. 

Thanks to James Hershberger, of the Nyack Historical Society, 

for all his help with our House Tour article. 

11 THE NYACK VILLAGER ON THE ROAD 

in Mystic Seaport 

23 BOOK TALK Shel Haber on Robert Love’s new book on 

The Great Oom and the Improbable Birth of Yoga in the US 

On our May cover 

Four of the houses on the Great Nyack House Tour 

Original watercolors by Beverly Bozarth Colgan; story on page 6 

The Nyack Villager 

May, 2009 Vol. 15 No. 9 

Mailed on or near the first of each month to every residential address in eight river villages—Upper Nyack, 

Nyack, Central Nyack, South Nyack, Grand View, Upper Grandview, Piermont and Palisades NY. 

On the Internet at www.nyackvillager.com 

7 

Great Nyack House Tour 

see page 6 

Memorial Day in Nyack 

see page 3 

Naughty Cat! 

by Dr. Peter Segall 

see pag 16 

Nyack Villager in 

Mystic, Connecticut 

see pag 11 

Holly Caster on theatrical riches 

in western Massachusetts 

see page 19 

Ric Pantale with part two of the 

saga of the Warner Brothers 

see page 12 

E-mail news releases to us at info@nyackvillager.com Deadline for our June issue is May 15. 

Please include a contact name and telephone number 

REPORTER 

at large 

Memorial Day Parade 2010 

Nyack's annual Memorial Day Parade will be 

held Mon, May 31, at 11am with bands, color 

guards, boy and girl scouts, fire departments 

and military veterans. e marchers will form 

up at 10:30am the day of the march behind 

Riverspace eater, on Artopee Way. Parade 

route is East on Main, South on Broadway, 

and East on Depew into Memorial Park, 

where they will hold the closing ceremonies. 

e Parade is sponsored by American Legion 

Post 310 and VFW Post 9215. e Grand 

Marshall for this year’s Parade is Alex Umrichin; 

Keynote speaker is James Leiner, Nyack 

Villager columnist and American Legion Post 

Historian, who will speak about the African- 

American servicemen buried at Mount Moor 

Cemetery. 

After the parade, the American Legion & 

VFW Posts will host an open house at the Legion 

Post adjacent to the Park. A commemorative 

journal will again be available free of 

charge to the public. Anyone wishing more 

info about marching with your group or placing 

an ad in the Journal can contact Nick Del 

Pizzo at 358-6091. 

Prior to the Parade, a Memorial Service will be 

held By the VFW at 9:00 AM at the Soldiers 

Monument at Oak Hill Cemetery In Nyack, 

and then the American Legion will hold a 

brief memorial service at Veteran's Park on 

Main and Cedar Streets in Nyack. 

Nyack Playwright at Penguin Rep 

After breaking box office records in Cincinnati, 

Pittsburgh, Buffalo, St. Louis, and running 

for over a year in Chicago, Rockland 

residents will at last see the hilarious and 

heart-warming comedy by Tom Dudzic, longtime 

Nyack resident. 

e play is the semi-autobiographical comedy 

Over the Tavern, the tale of Rudy Pazinski, a 

wise-cracking kid who lives with his blue collar 

family in a cramped apartment over Chet’s 

Bar & Grill in 1950s Buffalo. All Hell breaks 

loose when Rudy locks horns with ruler-wielding 

Sister Clarissa and announces that he’d like 

to shop around for a more “fun” religion and 

refuses to be confirmed. 

Tom is the author of last season’s hit, Miracle 

on South Division Street. 

Penguin Repertory, at 7 Crickettown Road, 

Stony Point, NY, is known for the quality of 

its productions and for the originality of its 

plays. Visit online at www.penguinrep.org 

or phone for tickets: (845) 786 2873. 

Reporter at Large continues on page 4 

The Nyack Villager May, 2010 3

Engel Votes NO on FAA Legislation 

Congressman Eliot Engel continued his opposition 

to the Federal Aviation Administration’s 

(FAA) proposed airspace redesign plan, which 

would lead to hundreds of airplanes flying 

over Rockland County on a daily basis, by 

voting against legislation authorizing funding 

for the agency for the next two years. 

Rep. Engel said, “is flight plan was jammed 

down our throats, with no input from the residents 

it harms the most. It would put an additional 

200 - 400 flights daily over Rockland 

County, with more and continued overhead 

noise. e FAA tried to do this without any 

kind of public hearing, acting in bad faith. 

ere was no notification to myself or other 

elected officials whose districts are affected.” 

Rep. Engel has protested the plan since he first 

heard of it and organized a public hearing in 

Rockland where some 1,200 residents joined 

him in speaking out against it. In January the 

US Supreme Court refused to overturn a 

lower court ruling allowing the plan to stand. 

“As long as the FAA refuses to listen to the 

people of Rockland, I will fight them every 

step of the way through the legislative process. 

Rockland deserves better than having to FAA 

implement its flawed plan,” said Rep. Engel. 

“I will work for a solution that doesn’t put all 

these planes flying over Rockland, fouling the 

air with their exhaust and noise. 

e legislation voted on by the House came 

from the Senate and, since there are differences 

4 The Nyack Villager May, 2010 

REPORTER at large 

starts on page 3 

From the Outside In 

by om Kleiner 

e Republicans and the 

Perils of Financial Reform 

Sometimes lost in the battle over health 

care reform is the political and moral 

credit the Democrats in Congress deserve 

for taking up the fight to begin with: Democrats 

knew that most people, according 

to the polls, were "satisfied" with their health care 

coverage and that only about 15% of Americans had 

no coverage at all. In other words, many put their 

political careers on the line for the benefit of a small 

minority of the population who could never turn an 

election for them. Given the particularly corrosive 

tactics of the Republican leadership in Washington 

these days, they knew they would be in trouble. 

e transformation in the capital since the days that 

I interned for Congressman Andy Maguire of 

Bergen County in the late '70s has been dramatic 

in the two bills, a conference committee will 

reconcile the differences. e House vote was 

276-145 ursday to approve the legislation. 

e FAA Reauthorization Act provides funding 

for FAA operations, air traffic control 

modernization, environmental protections, 

safety improvements, and secures airline passengers 

rights when flying. A final version of 

this legislation is expected in the next three 

months. 

Local Mom Makes Bid for a Seat on 

School Board 

If Jen Marrasccino gets 

elected, she will bring to 

one the number of mothers 

with children presently on 

the Nyack School Board. 

She told e Nyack Villager, 

“I believe diverse perspectives 

are important to good decision-making. 

I will bring the views of a mother with children 

in the schools to the process.” 

“I will adopt policies that see the well-rounded 

student as the goal,” she continued, “Arts and 

sports are vital to a child's educational experience 

for numerous reasons. Many studies show 

that the more hours of arts education a student 

has, the better he or she scores on SATs in math 

and reading.” 

“I will work for sustainable business practices 

that benefit the bottom line and the health of 

our students and staff,” she said. She added 

that she feels communications are vital and 

urges our readers to share their concerns. 

E-mail her at jenmarraccino@hotmail.com 

BE SURE TO VOTE MAY 18. 

and unfortunate. At that time, Republican members 

of the Senate included Cliff Case of New Jersey, 

Jacob Javits of New York, Ed Brooke of Massachusetts 

and Mac Mathias of Maryland. 

Moderate Republicans like these no 

longer exist in the U.S. Congress. e 

national Republican party has become 

more conservative, and seemingly uninterested 

in doing anything other than opposing 

whatever the current president 

submits for their consideration, even if 

they know inherently that it is good for 

the country. Sure, Republicans like Olympia Snow 

and Susan Collins of Maine exist, but they, too, 

caved completely in the crunch and opposed health 

care reform at the direction of their party’s leaders. 

We’ll have to see how they navigate the financial reform 

legislation. 

ere is very little chance for meaningful compromise 

on the financial reform bill, and the fault lies 

entirely at the feet of the leaders of the Republican 

party. At press time, for example, Senate Republican 

For People Who Eat 

e long-awaited opening of Jeff & Lauren 

Sapounas’ Chef’s Market finally took place in 

mid- April. It seems to cover all bases: breakfast, 

lunch, dinner, fruits & veggies, meat, fish 

and fowl, dairy and baked goods, ready-made 

soups, sandwiches and take-home specialties 

and conventional packaged food and cleaning 

supplies—but you get the idea. 

In addition, there’s catering. For the whole 

story, visit www.chefsmarketandcatering.com/ 

or drop in across the street from the YMCA. 

at 20 South Broadway, the former site of the 

Tappan Zee Playhouse. 

It’s a family operation; the day we visited 

(opening day), both Lauren & Jeff were helping 

customers and a young son was sweeping 

the floor. 

Starring Sarah Palin 

e Discovery Channel announces they'll produce 

a reality TV series called Sarah Palin’s Alaska 

for which Sarah Palin will be paid $1.2 million 

per episode. e series is expected to show her as 

an advocate for Alaska and its wildlife. 

is is the same Sarah Palin who escalated Alaska's 

war on wolves, offering a $150 bounty for the 

severed front forelegs of dead wolves. e same 

Sarah Palin who fought against increased protection 

for America's struggling polar bears. e 

same Sarah Palin who enjoys gunning down wild 

animals by helicopter, the same Sarah Palin who 

denies the reality of climate change. 

ere’s a petition for those who believe anti-environmentalism 

has no place on e Discovery 

Channel: http://act.credoaction.com/ campaign/palin_discovery/ 

K 

leader McConnell was repeatedly stating that 

Obama's bill would benefit Wall Street banks and 

guarantee bailouts when he knew the opposite was 

the case. One might politely suggest that Mc- 

Connell was "exaggerating" or "playing fast and lose 

with the facts." No. He was unabashedly lying to 

motivate his base and stay true to his political talking 

points. Maybe this is not so surprising when 

one considers where that base is coming from: in a 

recent Harris poll, 45% of all registered Republicans 

do not believe Obama was born in this country; 

24% believe he is the Antichrist. at belief system 

does not create the foundation for meaningful dialogue 

with the other side. 

Obama will persevere and, in the end, will triumph. 

He is the most remarkable political figure in my lifetime. 

But he’ll need all of his skills to navigate 

through the poisonous waters of the next several 

months leading up to the midterms. K 

om Kleiner welcomes questions and comments. 

Send to info@nyackvillager.com or contact om 

at (518) 469-4295 or thom.kleiner@labor.ny.gov


GREAT NYACK HOUSE TOUR 

Watercolor painting by 

Beverly Bozarth Colgan 

sponsored by the Historical Society of the Nyacks 

CELEBRATES OOM THE OMNIPOTENT 

Sponsored by the Historical Society of the Nyacks on May 15, 

The Great Nyack House Tour will highlight a colorful, charismatic 

character. Five of the ten houses on the tour are connected with 

Pierre Bernard, popularly known as OOM the Omnipotent, a pioneer 

in this country in the field of Yoga. During the 1920s, 

'30s, and '40s, he and his wife, dance and theater teacher, 

Blanche DeVries, were noted for their exuberance, the rich and 

famous people they attracted, the family of elephants they kept, 

and the grand buildings where they held forth. 

The other five buildings on the tour are diverse examples of 

grand homes of various styles. Many of them are also associated 

with exceptional persons, even if not quite so eccentric as 

Pierre Bernard. 

The tour will provide beverages at Shuman Hall, formerly a part 

South Cottage 

The history of this charming cottage 

in its wooded setting next to an ancient 

burial ground holds many mysteries. 

Perhaps it was a gardener's 

cottage for the adjoining estate, and 

the older part may have originally 

been a barn. Today it's a delightful 

home for two. 

of the Bernard Estate and presently the Nyack College Administration 

Building. At the same location, and at the Nyack Library 

as well, “Life at the Clarkstown Country Club” will be 

sold. This is the re-publication of a book chronicling Pierre 

Bernard, Blanche DeVries, and their fascinating scene. 

Early bird tickets are $30 for members of the Historical Society 

of the Nyacks, $35 for non-members, and after May 1 are 

$40. Checks may be mailed to Historical Society of the Nyacks, 

Box 850, Nyack, NY 10960. Tickets may also be purchased at 

the Nyack Library and, on the day of the tour, at Living Christ 

Church, 151 South Broadway, where people taking the tour may 

pick up their guide books. More information is available from 

www.nyackhistory.org housetour@nyackhistory.org and by 

calling (845) 418-4430. 

ABOUT THE ARTIST 

Beverly Bozarth Colgan created the exquisite watercolor paintings of the 

houses on this year’s Great Nyack House Tour, four of which are featured on 

our cover and another on this page. Ms. Colgan says, "I have lived in Nyack 

for many years and frequently walk on the Piermont Pier with friends and my 

dogs. It is always a great pleasure, no matter the weather—even in the bitter 

winter winds. The Hudson has always been a source of inspiration, for me and 

other artists. There is always something interesting to see—storms forming up 

over Hook Mountain, many varieties of birds, gleaming evening light on calm 

water in the reeds. There are often fishermen on the shores and we watch as 

they pull in their silvery catch. I work in transparent watercolor and try to 

capture these beautiful images—the possibilities are endless." 

Artist and illustrator Beverly Bozarth Colgan has been a professional artist 

and art teacher for over twenty five years. She has taught watercolor 

painting at RoCA for many years. Nominated for 1998 Rockland County 

Executive Arts Award, Ms. Colgan has shown in numerous one man and 

group shows locally and regionally. 

She specializes in watercolor painting with subjects that include landscapes, 

house portraits, floral and botanical still lifes. Ms. Colgan’s paintings are in 

the permanent collections of Scudder Investments, Exxon Corporation, 

Bristol Myers Squibb, Fidelity Investments, Colgate Palmolive, The Bank 

of New York, Dutchess Community College and many other distinguished 

collections. 

She has illustrated numerous books for Sunset Publications including Garden 

Makeovers, Kid's Rooms. Backyard Cottages, Kitchen Makeovers , 

Lowes Home Decorating Guide and more. 

Recent clients include Marist College, Pace University, Culinary Institute 

of America, Nyack College, Culinary Institute at Greystone, Dutchess 

Community College. K 



May Amusements 

Art 

and 

Entertainment 

Friends’ 36th Year of Walking Tours 

Mark your calendar and plan to join Kay Levinson, 

Luke Conroy, Gini Stolldorf or Bob Goldberg 

for a walk about our villages. ere is no better 

way for a new resident to learn a little local history 

and meet neighbors. e same goes for long-time 

residents. ere are fascinating stories and surprises 

around every corner on a Friends of the 

Nyacks’ Guided Walking Tour. 

e schedule for the 2010 season is: 

• May 2 (and Oct 17): tour scenic Oak Hill 

Cemetery and celebrate the lives of the many 

“permanent residents of the Nyacks.” 

• May 16 (and Sept 9): tour Upper Nyack, beginning 

at Hopper House, and go North on 

Broadway past glorious Victorians and sites of 

the ship-building era of the Nyacks. 

• June 6: this South Nyack tour begins at the 

corner of South Broadway and Cedar Hill, highlighting 

famous homes, stained glass windows 

and other features of the Victorian Age. 

• October 3: tour Downtown Nyack and the 

Business District, starting at the foot of Main 

Street. See the buildings that began their story in 

the "Gilded Age" of American history and learn 

why Nyack was the "Gem of the Hudson." 

All tours are on a Sunday; fee is $5pp. Reservations 

not necessary. Info: call (845) 358-7910. 

Visit website www.friendsofthenyacks.org 

Watch these pages for meet-up locations and other 

details of Friends of the Nyacks Walking Tours. 

First Friday Film Series 

First Friday Film Series at the Piermont Public 

Library presents Happy-Go-Lucky, directed by 

Mike Leigh, starring Sally Hawkins. is 2008 

film is an exuberant, dazzlingly upbeat character 

study of a sunny 30-something single woman in 

London. Whip-smart and full of wonderful surprises, 

this oddball movie, from normally überserious 

director Mike Leigh, will delight you. 

May 7, at 7:30pm at Piermont Public Library, 

25 Flywheel Park West, Piermont, NY Info call 

359-4595. Admission free. 

Rockland Choral Society 

A concert featuring masterpieces of German Romanticism—Mendelssohn, 

Brahms, Beethoven— 

will be presented by e Rockland County 

Choral Society and top professional soloists, conducted 

by Philip Hagemann. 

Sat, May 15 at 8pm, at RCC Cultural Arts Center, 

145 College Road Suffern. Tickets (at door) 

$20 general admission, $15 students and senior 

adults. Info & reservations (845) 418-6225. 

At Rockland Center For the Arts 

Rockland Center for the Arts, 27 South Greenbush Rd. 

West Nyack (off Exit 12 NYS ruway. Info: 845-358- 

0877 or visit www.rocklandartcenter.org Hours: M to F: 

10am to 5pm; weekends; 1 to 4pm; closed holidays. 

• Got Phone? Got Photos! 

e photos on exhibit in 

Gallery One at RoCA were 

taken by people of all ages, in 

all walks of life illustrating the 

intimate and spontaneous 

world of cell phone photography. 

e exhibit is comprised of work that was 

submitted in response to RoCA’s open call. 

ru May 2 

• The INS & The OUTS 

Works by six artists who are investigating abstract 

sculptural forms with an emphasis on surface and 

substance. Materials include concrete and plaster, 

fabric and found objects. Amy Lipton curates. 

ru June 13 in RoCA’s Sculpture Park. 

• Studio Art Classes 

Courses include fine arts, ceramics, jewelry, painting 

for beginners, creative writing, and glass bead 

making. For children and teens, photography, 

ceramics, fine arts, portfolio preparation, Anime 

& Manga, Art from Around the World, preschool 

art and more. 

Late Spring term begins Mon, May 3. 

Info & free catalog, call (845) 358-0877 or 

visit online at www.rocklandartcenter.org 

• Annual Student exhibit 

Works on view include painting, drawings, ce- 


amics, glass beads, sculpture, jewelry and more, 

all by RoCA’s many talented students. Show 

runs through May 23. 

Opening reception Sat, May 8 from 1 to 4pm 

• RoCA Summer Camp 2010 Open house 

Campers, ages 5 through 12, under the supervision 

of adult instructors and caring counselors, 

learn in a hands-on, non-competitive environment 

where confidence, creativity and group cooperation 

are encouraged. Activities take place 

in RoCA's ten wooded acres, fully equipped, air 

conditioned, art studios and large sparkling 

swimming pool. ree or four days per week 

available. Two four-week sessions are offered 

June 29 thru August 20. 

Contact: Amy Alinkofsky, Camp Director (845) 

358-0877 ext 18 or e-mail AmyRCA@aol.com 

Open House held Sun May 2, from 1 to 4pm. 

Mothers Day Concert 

e Rockland Symphony Orchestra, Edward Simons, 

conducting, will present a program to include 

Overture to Hansel and Gretel, Mozart’s 

Clarinet Concerto, Dr. Douglas Bish, soloist. In a 

special tribute to mothers, Mozart’s Ah Vous Dirai 

je Maman, will be sung by Chantal Haskew with 

Jan Deats, piano. Mozart wrote the piece for his 

mother when he was very young. e program 

concludes with Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No. 6. 

3pm Sun, May 9 at Rockland Community College, 

Cultural Arts eatre, 145 College Rd, Suffern 

Tickets $20pp, senior adults, $15, students $10. 

Info or ticket order (845) 942-2574 or visit 

www.rocklandsymphony.org 

GAGA Arts Festival 

Wander the back alleys and alcoves of this historic, 

red brick Civil War-era textile mill, there to find 

dozens of open studios, music, food, and live 

artistic and environmental demonstrations. 

Tinged with mystery and filled with surprises, 

this is an exhibit like no other. 

is year: children’s workshops and student art 

show, pro-environment craft demos, film, delectable 

foods, (would you believe?—) Balinese 

Monkey Chant with audience participation, live 

music, pottery, history, nature walk sculpture trail, 

Nyack’s beloved Chiku Awali African Dancers— 

and more spectacular events & artists too numerous 

to list here. 

Sat and Sun, May 1 & 2, 11—6, rain or shine. 

Admission $5 (kids under 14 with adult free.) 

If You Go: from Nyack and the River Villages: 

Rt 9W to Haverstraw: take left on West Railroad 

Ave, (1st traffic light past Samsondale Mall) 

Piermont Historical Society 

• Station Days— 

First Sunday of each month beginning May 2, 

continuing all summer: visit the Piermont Train 

Station, on the National Register of Historic 

Places, built in 1873 and lovingly restored by 

Piermont Historical Society, 50 Ash Street (at 

Hudson Terrace). Parking is available at Piermont 

Community Center, across the street from the 

station. Info: phone (845) 365-0655 or visit 

www.PiermontHistoricalSociety.org 

10am until 2pm. Free of charge. 

• Cocktails, Conversation, Celebration— 

Piermont Historical’s spring fundraiser will celebrate 

the restoration of the William Ferdon 

House. Honored guest: William Krattinger, of 

the NY State Historic Preservation Office. 

Sat, May 22 at 1 Rockland Road (Rockland Rd 

at Ferdon Avenue), Piermont, NY. 4pm - 7pm. 

Info: (845) 398-1737 or (845) 359-6984. 

Dance Party at the West Gate 

Friday nights at the West Gate Hotel: a dance 

class by Cowado from 8 to 9pm—Hustle, West 

Coast Swing, Salsa & more—then continuous 

DJ music until late. 

Every Friday at the Best Western / West Gate 

Hotel, 26 Route 59, Nyack, NY. Admision $5pp. 

Music Works Coffeehouse 

MusicWorks, the parent organization that raises 

money for and promotes the music programs in the 

Nyack School District is holding a Coffeehouse 

where students will perform music and poetry. e 

community is invited to come and enjoy the talent. 

Fri, May 14 at 7pm at Nyack High School; admission 

$5pp. Snacks & drinks will be available. 

Sing We Enchanted 

Magnificent a cappella singers perform A Spring 

Renaissance, a program of love songs that span 

three centuries and feature works of Renaissance 

& early Baroque masters—Gabrieli, di Lasso, 

Monteverdi, Dowland, Purcell, and others. 

Sun May 16 at 7pm at Saint Augustine’s Church, 

140 Maple Avenue, New City, Donation $10. 

Info: (914) 282-5590 

continues on poage 13 


Remember the days? 

by James F. Leiner 

Camp Bluefields 

I was about eight before mom 

would allow me to wander very 

far from our home on Cedar Hill 

Avenue. e first place I wanted 

to explore was South Mountain. 

I had heard stories about Balance 

Rock and Camp Bluefields, and I 

wanted to find out for myself. Balance Rock 

was fun to climb on, but it was the tunnels of 

the old rife range that provided a marvelous 

adventure for me and my buddies. e ruins 

of the camp still exist, and they are a great 

place for a weekend hike. 

e NY National Guard built a rifle range on 

land that belonged to the Blauvelt family, and 

took their name; in Dutch; Blauvelt means 

Blue Grass or Blue Field. e range was more 

than a series of targets and many NY militia 

units would camp at the range for several days. 

e complex contained a huge mess hall, range 

office, headquarters and storage buildings in 

addition to the high concrete target walls that 

were connected by safety tunnels. Construction 

of Camp Bluefields cost nearly a half million 

dollars, and for that price it should have been 

a model military camp, but it wasn’t; it just 

didn’t work right. It opened in 1911 and was 

the subject of complaints from the start. e 

Nyack Evening Journal of September 27, 1911 

carried a story with some troubles: Blauvelt is 

inaccessible and too far from NYC; there is no 

direct train service nearby to bring in troops. 

e story quoted militia officers: e range is 

laid out wrong; it is laid out to the East, so the 

soldiers have to shoot with the sun in their eyes in 

the morning and early afternoon. e camp 

was initially welcomed to the area, but bullets 

that were supposed to hit the target area often 

overshot their mark and landed in South 

Nyack. Needless to say, this was somewhat 

upsetting to the good folks of the village and it 

took only a few of these lead showers before 

COMMUNITY NOTES 

Tell e Nyack Villager and we’ll tell the world. 

Deadline for June Community Notes: May 15 

e-mail us at info@nyackvillager.com 

NyACk FARMERS’ MARkET 

Open May thru November every ursday 8am to 

2pm rain or shine in the municipal parking lot on 

Main Street. Featuring locally produced vegetables, 

fruit, cut flowers. baked goods, poultry, beef, wine, 

cheese, pickles, jam. hot sauce. Weekly specials. 

Info (845) 353-2221 or www.nyackchamber.com 

PALISADES FARMERS’ MARkET 

Open thru June 12, every Saturday from 9am-1pm 

rain or shine at the Palisades Community Center, 

675 Oak Tree Road, Palisades. 

• Market events: May 8: Mother's Day Plant sale by 

the Children's Shakespeare eater 


the citizens began to lodge loud complaints. 

Mr. Bishop appeared before the South Nyack 

Board asking for the range to be 

closed after he found bullets on his 

roof and in his barn. In 1912, the 

trouble continued and on June 5 

the headline read: 

RIFLE RANGE SHOOTING 

TERRORIZES SOUTH NYACK. 

Bullets through the roof of Mrs. 

Grenville D. Wilson and her neighbors 

were reported in the paper. 

Camp Superintendent Walter Scott Lamb 

came to investigate. On June 6 more bullets 

struck the homes of Arthur Brady and James 

Pacey. Another $73,000 was spent to improve 

the rifle range. Large overhead screens were 

installed to keep the bullets in Blauvelt, but 

they had little effect. e range became an 

embarrassment to officials and they closed the 

camp and handed the property over to the 

newly-formed Palisades Interstate Park Commission. 

Camp Bluefields’ rifle range was in 

operation for less than three years. 

During the next five years the YMCA rented 

the land as a summer camp for young ladies 

from NY City who paid $3.50 for a week’s vacation. 

In 1918 the camp was used to train 

ROTC units and was for years used as a military 

base, but without the shooting. In 1930 

the Army sent soldiers to Blauvelt, and when 

World War II broke out, Camp Bluefields 

again became a training ground for the soldiers 

in nearby Camp Shanks. 

Today invading tree roots caused the collapse 

of several sections of the old safety tunnels. 

ough the concrete is crumbling and despite 

graffiti, the ruins are still fun to explore. e 

main entrance is off Greenbush Road up the 

paved driveway for about a half mile to a 

plateau. Behind a stand of large fir trees on 

the left are the ruins of the mess hall and 

tower. 150 yards further on the trail an embankment 

on the left fronting what was a 

large clearing is part of the promenade and firing 

line. e best of the old tunnels is about a 

thousand yard walk from the southern end of 

Tweed Boulevard. 

If you would like a map of the old camp, contact 

me. I am sure your hike will be as good an 

adventure as it was for me years ago. 

[Editor’s Note: e-mail info@nyackvillager.com 

and we will promptly forward it to Mr. Leiner.] 

The Nyack Villager thanks Jim Leiner for helping us 

all ‘Remember the Days.’ K 

Post card photo of the Camp Bluefields Rifle range. 

Beyond the hill behind the targets the soldier are shooting at is South Nyack 

• May 8 & 15: Organic heirloom vegetable plants 

by Hook Mountain Growers. 

• May 22 at 7pm: Palisades Farmer's Market Dinner. 

Enjoy a leisurely meal with friends at long tables on 

the lawn. Info : e-mail PCC@palisadesny.com 

PLANT SALE AT GRACE CHURCH 

Grace Church will hold a sale of peonies, iris, and 

grasses, flats of impatience, and garden items such as 

tools, vases, ornaments, books and birdhouses. And, 

for the digging (bring shovels and containers), very 

reasonable prices on ferns, pachysandra, vinca, hydrangeas, 

roses, and others. Bouquets too. 

Sat, May 8, from 11 to 3 at Grace Church, corner of 

First Ave & Franklin. 

NyACk HIGH SCHOOL PRESENTS 

Rock Out With Your Socks Out, in conjunction with 

Nyack’s Homeless Project—a day of performances 

by local musicians. Parking is free. 

Sat, May 15 from noon to 7pm. Admission $12 

($10 for those who bring a new pair of any size socks 

to be donated to Nyack Homeless Project.) Questions: 

nyackrocksout@gmail.com 

• NOTE: proceeds of the event, after expenses, will help 

Nyack High School Seniors pay for their prom. 

CLASSICAL GUITAR AT 1st REFORMED 

Classical guitarist Sharon Isbin will perform the 

Joan Baez Suite from her 2010 Grammy-winning 

CD, Journey to the New World. 

e evening is hosted by ArtsRock, an affiliate of 

Friends of the Nyacks, not-for profit corporation. 

Fri, May 7 First Reformed Church, 18 S. B’dway, 

Nyack. Tickets: $20 advance; $25 at the door. 

For tickets and info call (845) 418-ARTS, visit 

artsrock.org or e-mail info@artsrock.org 

Community Notes continue on page 14

Nyack Villager On the Road 

Mystic 

Seaport 

Mystic Connecticut 

Story & photographs by Shel Haber 

A two-hour drive North to Mystic Connecticut is a little like visiting Nyack’s shipbuilding past. 

Mystic Seaport is a re-creation of an authentic 19th-century seafaring village. e houses are not copies, but historic buildings, transported from locations 

around New England. Each building displays a maritime trade— shipbuilder, cooper, woodcarver and rigger, as well as other old trades like printing, 

haberdashery and smithing. At Mystic, the shops are all maintained by skilled people who still work in the old trades. 

ere was a Spring drizzle the morning we arrived but as soon as we opened our 

umbella, the sun came out. 

We walked down the long river street, wandering in and out of the old buildings. 

Inside we found the actual tools and artifacts of the old sea trades. In the woodcarver’s 

shop they were creating figureheads and decorative carvings that would 

soon embellish restored ships. In a boat building shop they were repairing, caulking 

and gluing boats. e shipwright we met, Mark Franklin, described with obvious 

pride, his work to restore the Beetle Catboats in his care. He worked in the 

traditional manner, with old hand tools, as would a sculptor, shaping the hull of 

the small craft. In a few weeks the restored catboats will be avaliable for rental to visitors 

to sail on the river. 

Next door, at the restored coast 

guard station, was a strong old rescue lifeboat, perched on a slipway ready to enter the dangerous sea, 

just as it did a hundred years ago. Down the street in the newspaper office, kids from a school group 

were learning to pull a print of a ship on an old iron press. 

At the riverside, vessels large and small rode at anchor, many of them national historic landmarks: e 

Emma C. Berry, Sabino and L.A. Dunton. e great Charles W. Morgan is in drydock, undergoing 

restoration and maintenance. 

All the people we met were friendly and knowledgeable—that and the steady, sweet wind off the river 

made for a memorable visit. 

Back in the 21st century, in the village of Mystic, 

we had lunch at e S&P Oyster Co., with their 

spectacular selection of shellfish, then strolled 

across Mystic’s 19th century iron drawbridge to the 

Drawbridge Ice Creamery to sample their fine 

handcrafted ice cream. 

For two nights, we stayed at our favorite bed and 

breakfast, e Inn at Harbor Hill, in Niantic. We 

have a particular fondness for Harbor Hill, in part 

because the people are so nice, in part because in 

several visits, we have yet to hear a phone ring anywhere 

near the premises. 

Both mornings we awoke to a perfect Spring sunrise 

over Long Island Sound. 

 


Ric’s Picks 

by Ric Pantale 

WARNeR BROTheRS Part 2 

e orchard grove just Northwest of 

Los Angeles seemed an ideal location 

to the brothers Warner. Lots of land 

was available, the weather was ideal 

and labor was cheap. In 1923 they 

established Warner Brothers. e oldest of 

the four, Harry, stayed in NY City to run 

things from there. Albert was the treasurer 

and Sam and Jack ran Hollywood's newlynamed 

first studio. 

All four brothers were astute businessmen. 

Jack showed a flair for creativity. Sometime in 

the mid 1920s, Warner Brothers ran into a bit 

of financial difficulty; they were expanding too 

fast. Although they had a genuine star in Rin 

Tin Tin, the smart German Shepherd dog was 

not enough to save them. At about this time, 

Sam Warner got wind of a process called Viataphone, 

that actually could make pictures 

talk. In 1926 Warner Brothers made Don 

Juan, with a synchronized musical sound 

track. Two years later, they released e Jazz 

Singer. Although it had only sporadic dialogue, 

it caused a sensation. Jolson Sings! was 

all the rage. e fun and hoop-la surrounding 

the gigantic premier was dimmed by Sam 

Warner’s sudden death the day before. Later 

in 1928, Warner Brothers released Lights of 

New York, the first all-talkie picture; the rest, as 

they say, is history. 

Following their early success, Warner Brothers 

Studios grew by leaps and bounds, eventually 

to dominate decades of film making in Hollywood. 

ey became known for technically 

competent, tightly budgeted films. In the 

1930s, the Warners became famous for their 

exuberant Busby Berkeley musicals 

and for the brooding, film noir 

gangster genre. Most of their stars, 

recruited from NY City—Edward 

G. Robinson, James Cagney and 

George Raft, played memorable 

tough guys. Humphrey Bogart, 

another Warner Bros. actor, seemed 

destined to play supporting roles 

until he hit it big in e Maltese Falcon. In 

1942 the Warners purchased a flop Broadway 

play called, Everybody Goes To Rick’s. ey 

bought it as a starring vehicle for George Raft. 

He hated it. Ronald Reagan took the part but 

dropped out to join the military. A mere 24 

hours before they were to start shooting, they 

reluctantly got Humphrey Bogart to sign on. 

ey changed the title to Casablanca. 

e list of the Warners’ contract players reads 

like a Who’s Who in films. In addition to those 

already mentioned were Errol Flynn, Bette 

Davis, Olivia De Havilland, Doris Day, 

Ronald Reagan and later Clint Eastwood, 

Warren Beatty and James Dean, to name just a 

few. Directors included John Huston, Elia 

Kazan, Michael Curtiz and Clint Eastwood. 

Warner Brothers had the best cartoons. Bugs 

Bunny and his Looney Tunes pals were drawn 

mostly by artists eager to escape the dread 

Disney Studios. -th-th-that's all folks! 

Jack Warner, who controlled the studio his 

whole life, died in 1978. Harry Warner died 

in 1958, Albert Warner in 1967. Samuel died 

decades earlier, in 1927. It seems, though they 

all loved each other, they never really got along. 

Next month: Paramount Pictures and the 

Rockland County Connection. 

Ric Pantale writer and director, is an independent 

film maker. K 

Edward G. Robinson James Cagney George Raft Humphrey Bogart 

Did you know...? of these famous Hollywood tough guys, not one stood over 5’7” 


Two Distinguished Local Artists 

• e Art of the Bird 

Bird images by four well-known artists, including 

field sketches, notes, drawings and watercolors by 

François Vuilleumier, of Piermont, recently retired 

curator of Ornithology at the Museum of 

Natural History, and Editor-in-Chief of Birds of 

North America. He is joined by Hunt Slonem, 

Sharon Falk of the GAGA Arts Center, & Lydia 

Viscardi of RoCA. 

ru May 21, Mon-Fri, 8am to 6pm at 1 Blue 

Hill Art & Cultural Center, off Veterans Memo 

rial Drive, Pearl River NY (845) 359-1584 

• Original soundtrack release 

John Gromada, longtime Nyack resident, recently 

released his original soundtrack from the critically 

acclaimed Hartford Stage/Signature eatre production 

of e Orphans Home Cycle by Horton 

Foote. is is Mr. Gromada’s second release on 

his new Nyack Music label. 

rilling! e great adventure of the theater season! 

—Ben Brantley, New York Times 

Available as CD from Amazon & for mp3 download 

on Itunes, Amazon, E-music, Lala, & Rhapsody. 

Info & orders http://www.orphanssoundtrack.com

May Amusements start on pg 8 

Orangetown History Museum 

• Antiques & Collectibles Sale 

Antiques, collectibles, jewelry, glass, 

decorative and fine arts will be on offer 

at the Semi-Annual Antiques & Collectibles 

Sale, sponsored by e e Friends of 

the Orangetown Museum & Archives. 

Sat May 15 from 10 to 4 At the DePew House, 

cor Blaisdell & Orangeburg Roads, Orangeburg 

NY. (Rain date: same hours, following day.) 

• exhibit: Our Lives In eir hands 

Learn the history of fire, police & other emergency 

services in Orangetown. 

ru Sun Nov 7. Hours, Tues & Sun, 10 to 2. 

At the Depew House, 196 Blaisdell Rd, Orangeburg. 

Info call (845) 398-1302. Donations will 

be gratefully accepted. 

Garden Club of Nyack Plant Sale 

e annual sale features perennials and shrubs 

from members’ gardens. Favorites include pink 

bleeding hearts, white bleeding hearts, hybrid 

daylilies, peonies, bearded iris, columbine, hellebores, 

meadow rue, forget-me-not, ferns, and 

hosta, among many others. Also featured: organic 

plants from Hook Mountain Grower’s, 

Inc., Herb plants from Stoke’s Farm and unusual 

plants from Bump’s & Co. Also: delectable 

homemade baked goods. 

Proceeds support Nyack’s Community Garden, 

e Butterfly Garden at Memorial Park, planting 

at the Hopper House, the Old Stone Meeting 

House, the YMCA in Nyack, People to People. 

Sat, May 8 from 10am to 2pm at 507 North 

Broadway, in Upper Nyack. More on the Garden 

Club, visit thenyackgardenclub.wordpress.com/ 

Multi-Cultural Day 

2nd Annual African American Multi-Cultural 

Day Parade and Festival features entertainment, 

vendors, children’s activities, food, and fun. 

Parade starts at 2pm Sat, May 15 on Main 

Street, Nyack; the festival follows the parade at 

Memorial Park, on Piermont Avenue. Info: 

Louise Parker at (845) 353-0034; vendor info: 

call Danelle Greene at (845) 406-0538 or visit 

ddavisg@hotmail.com 

The Roaring 20s Party at RCDS 

Channel the Roaring 20s; grab your feather boas 

and fedoras and hop into the jalopy for an 

evening of live entertainment, gourmet food 

unique live auction libations and surprises. 

Sat May 15, 6:30 to 11pm, Putter Place After 

Dark at Rockland Country Day School. Tickets 

$75pp. Info call (845) 268-6802 ext. 206 

FOR to show documentary film 

Every War Has Two Losers, a film on the life of 

poet William Stafford, will be shown at the Fellowship 

of Reconcilation. Stafford was a conscientious 

objector who dedicated much of his 

poetry to the cause of ending war. 

Sun, May 16 at 2pm at FOR, 521 North Broadway, 

Upper Nyack 

continues on page 15 



Home Town Law 

by Peter Klose, Esq. 

How often have you walked down 

the sidewalk here in Nyack or in 

many other communities and wondered 

aloud to your companion, 

“Why did they allow that green 

blinking neon sign? . . . . or . . . . 

why can’t that merchant put in 

floor to ceiling windows?” e answer lies 

within the purview of the Building Department 

and the community’s Architectural Review 

Board (or “ARB,” for short). 

Last month I discussed the Comprehensive 

Master Plan’s goal of providing “a consistent 

palette of lighting, landscaping, and sidewalks 

throughout downtown's public domains.” 

[Nyack CMP, pg. 15]. In creating the ARB 

here in Nyack, the Village Board specifically 

“found” that, “monotonous similarity, striking 

visual discord, inappropriateness or poor quality 

of design in the exterior appearance of 

structures erected, reconstructed or altered in 

any area in the Village of Nyack adversely affects 

the desirability of the immediate area and 

neighboring areas within the community and, 

by so doing, impairs the benefits of occupancy 

or use of real property in such areas; impairs 

the stability and value of both improved and 

unimproved real property in such areas; prevents 

the most appropriate development of 

such areas; produces degeneration of the property 

in such areas, with attendant deterioration 

of conditions affecting the health, safety, 

morals and general welfare of the inhabitants 

of the community; and destroys a proper relationship 

between the taxable value of real 

property in the community and the cost of 

municipal services provided therefor.” [Zoning 

Code, Section 59-6.2]. 

Wow, that’s a mouthful! In essence, the ARB 

exists to give a face, a name and a sounding 

board to assist residents, shopkeepers, and developers 

alike to encourage creative solutions 

to improve the visual appearance of our Village. 

COMMUNITY NOTES starts on pg 10 

AT BIRCHWOOD CENTER 

85 S. Broadway, Nyack. Call 358-6409 or visit 

info@birchwoodcenter.com 

• Birchwood Center Yoga Retreat 

A fun and relaxing weekend with Betsy Ceva and 

Charlene Bradin, Birchwood Center directors, at 

Solé East Resort in Montauk, NY. Details: contact 

cceva@soleeast.com or visit www.soleeast.com 

Fri, May 14 thru 16 

• Spring hike in harriman Park 

Spring Yoga Hike led by hiker and yoga instructor, 

Jerry Cincimino. Contact Birchwood to register. 

Fri, May 16; hike begins at 3pm. Fee: $30 

• New instructors at Birchwood 

Birchwood Center welcomes new teachers Jennifer 

Mayer, Tara Linehan, Jill Lobo and Anne Welles, all 

We all have our view of what the 

appropriate visual appearance 

should be, but the law states that 

the purpose of our ARB is to, “encourage 

good qualities of exterior 

building design and good appearances 

and to relate such design 

and appearances to the sites and 

surroundings of structures, to permit 

originality and resourcefulness 

in design.” 

In Nyack, the ARB meets at 7:30 p.m. on the 

fourth Wednesday of every month and is 

made up of five members appointed by the 

Board of Trustees. By statute, the Members 

must be residents, specifically qualified by reason 

of training or experience in architecture, 

design, building construction, other related 

business or profession, and one member must 

be a professional architect licensed to practice 

in the State of New York. We also aspire to 

have at least one member who is “knowledgeable 

in architectural history, historic building 

design and construction, and/or local history.” 

[Section 59-6.2]. 

So, the next time you wonder whether someone 

has considered the aesthetics of a particular 

sign, banner, storefront or building project, 

the answer in Nyack is probably yes, both the 

Building Department and the ARB. Again, a 

common theme—we owe it to ourselves, and 

our dedicated volunteers and neighbors to understand 

the process and to participate making 

our community a better place. Join, 

attend, participate, don’t just gripe. 

If you would like to see a legal topic covered 

or would like to comment, please send me an 

e-mail at peter@kloselaw.com 

Peter Klose practices law and lives with his wife 

and three children in Nyack. His community 

activities include Chairman of the Planning 

Board, Director of the River Rowing Association, 

Nyack Rotary, and Chamber of Commerce. His 

passions include rowing on the Hudson River, 

travel, his family, growing tomatoes, and writing 

about legal issues. K 

graduates of Birchwood Yoga Teacher Training. 

ey will share their talents with new Gentle Yoga 

and mixed level Hatha Yoga classes. Congratulations 

ladies, for making it through the intense training 

and coming out the other side with classes of your 

own at Birchwood! To find Jen, Tara, Jill and 

Anne’s classes visit www.birchwoodcenter.com 

HULA HOOP CONTEST 

The biggest Hula Hoop event EVER in Rockland 

County will be a blast with live music, Hula Hoop 

contests, food and surprises. Live music all day, 

plus face painting. Event sponsors: ArtsRock (an 

affiliate of Friends of the Nyacks) and Champion 

Day Camp. 

Sat, May 8 from 10am to 12:30pm at Memorial 

Park, Nyack. 

Community Notes continue on page 17


At Hopper House in May 

82 N Broadway Nyack NY. Gallery hrs 1-5 pm 

urs thru Sun. Info: (845) 358-0774 

eXhIBITS 

• Matthew Murray: Abandoned America: photo 

exhibit of abandoned and decaying buildings reveal 

an ethereal stillness; 

• Tracy Silva-Barbosa: Transcending Time: an exhibit 

of mixed media paintings. 

rough May 9. 

• Biennial Juried Photography Exhibit 2010 

Juror: Lesley A. Martin, Publisher of Aperture 

Foundation's book program. 

May 15 thru July 11. Reception: Sat, May 15, 

from 5 to 7 pm. 

WORKShOPS & ONGOING PROGRAMS 

A wide variety of arts instruction for children, 

‘teens and adults. For all details including fees, 

visit www.hopperhouse.org 

Morning Music Club Awards Concert 

2010 Awards Recipients will perform individually 

and will receive monetary scholarships and 

certificates of merit at the evening concert 

hosted by the MMC Scholarship committee. 

e Hon. Harriet Cornell will make the presentations. 

A reception to greet the students and 

their families will follow. e event is open to 

the public. ough there is no admission fee, 

donations to the MMC Scholarship Fund are always 

greatly appreciated and are tax-exempt. 

Awards Recipients are: Ellen Mutter, violin, of 

TZ High, Kellian Ribaudo, voice, of Clarkstown 

N., Geraldine Valente, voice, of Clarkstown S., 

Connor Reese, guitar, of Pearl River High. 

May 11, at 7:30 pm at Nauraushaun Presbyterian 

Church, 51 Sickletown Road, Pearl River, 

NY. Info: (845) 358-3798 

Pinkster Festival 

An African-American celebration of Spring, 

Pinkster was held in the Hudson Valley as early 

as the 17th century. Filled with music, dance, 

food, and revelry, Pinkster re-creates the Spring 

holiday with a rousing colonial-style celebration. 

Festivities include lively presentations of drumming 

and traditional dance, African folktales, 

and demonstrations of traditional African instruments 

and utilitarian wares. 

Sun, May 16, noon-6pm at Philipsburg Manor, 

381 N. Broadway (Route 9), Sleepy Hollow, NY. 

Adm $12; $10 seniors; $6 children. 

Photo by Bryan Haeffele 

continues on page 20 


Pet care 

by Peter Segall, DVM 

Naughty Cat: Some oughts 

About Feline Behavior 

Every year thousands of dogs and 

cats are euthanized because of behavior 

issues many more have exasperated owners 

pulling their hair out to try to deal with 

behavior problems that affect their daily lives. 

Aggression, house-soiling, vocalizations and 

inter-pet issues are but some of the concerns 

voiced to veterinarians and behavior specialists 

every day in practice. While medical causes of 

abnormal behavior are possible, they account 

for a small percentage. Metabolic 

disorders (e.g. high or low 

thyroid), liver and pancreatic disease, 

neurological conditions(tumors, 

trauma, inflammation) 

and senile brain degeneration 

are some of the medical causes 

of abnormal behavior. 

Clients seek help when a cat’s behavior intrudes 

on their orderly life. I will discuss, with the 

help of a few pet behavior texts, some of the 

concerns that my clients have with their cats. 

Plant chewing is common in cats. In our house 

certain plants have to be hung and I can no 

longer buy flowers for Laura as Oliver will destroy 

them. Certain plants seem to attract cats 

and they will chew them. Cats in the wild eat 

prey that had digested plant matter and would 

therefore ingest this from the prey’s stomach. 

Ingestion of ornamentals will usually cause 

vomiting or diarrhea, although some plants 

such as lilies may be poisonous and cause great 

harm. Chewing may be deterred by making 

the plant taste bad. Wetting leaves and sprinkling 

cayenne pepper, oil of eucalyptus and 

wooden sticks placed in the soil may discourage 

chewing according to one text. Some cats enjoy 

doing some grazing, so planting a small garden 

of wheat/oat grass or catnip is a fun thing to do. 

Aggressive behavior toward their owners can be 

a very serious problem with some major consequences. 

ere are several categories of aggression. 

Play aggression occurs when a cat perceives 

its owners as another cat or kitten who will engage 

in normal cat play behavior which includes 

pouncing/biting/attacking, etc. Cats (especially 

young ones) engage in this behavior with their 

mates and learn to bite and claw without hurting. 

Owners should not do things that will 

cause their cat to engage in this behavior. Substitutions 

should be available. Dangling toys 

from a fishing rod for your cat to chase and bat 

at will give them a good play time. Water pistols 

or noise-makers may discourage this unwanted 

behavior. e text suggests that adding 

another young cat as a companion may channel 

the cat’s behavior away from its owner. 

One type of aggression I see in my 

office is redirected aggression. I 

had a sweet cat in my waiting room 

in his cat box. A dog came and 

sniffed the box, scaring the cat. 

When we got this normally sweet 

cat on the exam table he was uncontrollable, 

would not let us touch 

him and lashed out. We try not to 

let this happen in the waiting room any more. 

e last aggressive behavior that I will talk 

about is the aggressiveness caused by petting. 

Some cats love to be petted—up to a point. At 

some point during the petting the cat will bite 

and run off. e text suggests that these cats 

have a certain threshold for the amount of 

physical interaction they can tolerate. 

Most cats will give signals 

that this threshold is being 

reached. Some will just start to 

move their tails and show facial 

signs of anxiety. 

Offering a food treat just before 

the biting would occur may stop 

the biting and allow for a longer 

petting session. 

e last issue I have room for is excessive vocalization. 

ere are certain breeds of cat such as 

the Siamese who are known as criers. Cats of a 

certain age will do what we call aimless vocalization 

as a sign of senility. Any change in 

schedules or a move may result in more crying. 

If you respond to the cat’s crying you may be 

enabling your pet. e crying should be discouraged 

and only pay attention when he is 

quiet. Using a spray water bottle when the cat 

is vocalizing may help discourage him. ere 

are many more examples of behavior that I will 

tackle in a future article. 

DAb 

We are still sad about Annie’s passing and cry a 

little each day. Not having a dog left a big hole 

in our lives that needed to be filled. One of my 

very good clients who raises greater Swiss 

mountain dogs told us that one of her dogs, 

“Tuni,” a five year old female, would like to be 

in a single dog household. She is a beautiful 

87-lb dog who loves to cuddle. We have had 

her for three weeks and only have one real 

problem. Oliver walks around, unperturbed by 

Tuni, but Tuni walks around constantly anxious 

thinking Oliver will attack her. She has even 

been trapped in the bedroom, afraid to come 

out. is will all work itself out, I’m sure. 

Laura and I thank everyone who has written 

and called to offer their condolences about 

Annie’s passing. We were both very touched. 

Annie will always be in our memories. K 

Dr Segall can be reached at Hudson Valley Animal 

Hospital, 4 Old Lake Rd, Valley Cottage, New 

York 10989 (845) 268-0089 



PARENTS OF INFANTS 

For parents with children from birth to 12 months, 

come relax in our living room with other parents 

and their infants. Use the time to ask questions, 

share insights and connect with other families. 

Gain information about your growing baby and issues 

important to you & your family. 

Mondays & ursdays from 1-3pm at Rockland 

Parent-Child Center, 137 First Ave, Nyack, NY. 

Info (914) 629-5849 

16th ANNUAL PARENT-CHILD AUCTION 

Join Rockland Parent-Child Center for a magical, 

unforgettable sunset cruise of the Hudson, aboard 

the historic Commander for their 16th Annual 

River Auction on Sat, May 15. e cruise departs 

6pm from the Haverstraw Marina, 616A Beach Rd, 

West Haverstraw, NY. Tickets are $75pp and includes 

wine, beer, hors d'ouevres and live jazz. ere 

will be a silent auction on board, proceeds to ongoing 

family support programming at the Rockland 

Parent-Child Center, 37 First Avenue, Nyack. For 

tickets call (845) 358-2702, ext. 12 or visit 

www.rocklandparentchild.org. RSVP by May 1. 

Seating is limited. 

ROCkLAND FAMILy SHELTER AWARDS 

Mark your calendar for Rockland Family Shelter’s 

11th Annual Distinguished Citizen Award Dinner 

honoring distinguished actress and author Ellen 

Burstyn, composer-lyricist Neil Berg and singer-performer 

Rita Harvey, all of whom will be present to 

accept their awards. 

Sun, May 2 at Patriot Hills, 19 Clubhouse Lane, 

Stony Point. $150pp; Cocktails 5:30pm, dinner 

6:30. Festive attire. Call 634-3391 or visit 

www.rocklandfamilyshelter.org 

MEMORIAL LACROSSE GAME 

e 6th Annual Stacey Sennas McGowan Lacrosse 

Games will be held to honor the memory of Stacey, 

who lost her life on 9/11. e evening includes a 

NHS Alumni game, followed by a junior match-up 

against Pearl River. Stacey's daughters will be playing 

on this team. Join us for an evening of fine 

lacrosse and feel the spirit! 

Sat, May 8 at MacCalman Field, Midland Avenue, 

Nyack. Info: 358-7720 

FUN IN GOOSETOWN 

e annual Goosetown Bazaar, to benefit the 

school’s PTA will feature carnival games, crafts, 

flower sale, food, raffles, and tag sale. e public is 

invited. Rain or shine. Info: 358-5108. 

May 15 from 11 am to 3 pm at Upper Nyack Elementary 

School, 336 N. Broadway, Upper Nyack 

ROCkLAND COUNTy GUIDANCE CENTER 

Programs in support of those entering the workforce. 

• Are You Currently Unemployed? 

Wed, May 5, from 9:30 to 11am 

• Financial Management for Women 

Fri, May 7, 14 & 21 from 2-3:30pm 

Must attend all sessions 

• Recharging After a Job Loss 

Wed, May 19, from 10-11:30am 

• Job Security…Gone with the Wind! 

Wed, May 26, 6:30-8:30pm 

Guidance Center (lower level of HSBC Bank bldg) 

17 South Broadway, Nyack. Free. 

Info & registration (845) 358-9390 or online at 

www.co.rockland.ny.us/guidance/center.htm 

Community Notes continue on page 23 


y Donna Cox 

What is the MLS? MLS stands for 

Multiple Listing Service. It’s like a warehouse full of all the homes for sale in an 

area where sellers can showcase their homes and buyers can browse for a home 

that meets their needs. e benefits to both sellers and buyers are tremendous. In 

areas without the MLS, like Manhattan, companies can generally only show and 

sell their own listings and don’t have access to those of other companies. Buyers 

must to go from company to company to see all the homes available for sale. Our 

area is served by the Greater Hudson Valley MLS which has about 3000 member agents. Being in the 

MLS expands a seller’s sales force exponentially by exposing their home to those 3000+ agents and all of 

their prospective buyers. And, with the MLS, buyers don’t have to go from company to company to see 

all the homes for sale. Since each member of the MLS has access to the same information, buyers can 

form a relationship with one agent and can count on that agent to show them all the homes that meet their 

needs. Truly a win-win environment. With that, here are the homes that sold during the month of March. 

• THE HOMES LISTED BELOW WERE SOLD By A VARIETy OF BROkERS PROUDLy SERVING THE RIVER VILLAGES. 

Two Story 

Cape Cod 

Condo 

Colonial 

Condo 

Condo 

Colonial 

Condo 

Contemporary 

C. Nyack 

U. Nyack 

Nyack 

S. Nyack 

Piermont 

Piermont 

Piermont 

Piermont 

Palisades 

They got what?! 

STYLE LOCATION ADDRESS BEDROOMS BATHS LIST PRICE SALE PRICE 

3 Ingalls St 

504 Hudson View Rd 

6 Burd St #1402 

312 S Broadway 

102 Harbor Cove 

304 Harbor Cove 

235 Piermont Ave 

8-8 Lawrence Park 

12 Woods Rd 

4 

4 

2 

3 

2 

2 

6 

1 

4 

1.1 

2.1 

2.1 

2 

2 

2 

3 

1 

2.1 

$ 219,900 

499,000 

399,900 

310,000 

999,000 

799,000 

299,000 

199,000 

1,695,000 

$ 207,500 

508,000 

400,000 

304,000 

900,000 

740,000 

220,500 

196,000 

1,547,500 

Summary Source: GHVMLS YTD Comparison Report 

March YTD 2010 vs. March YTD 2009 - Single Family Homes 

New inventory (the number of homes going on the market) increased 69% (76 YTD 2010 vs. 45 YTD 

2009). ere was a 20% increase in the number of sales (12 YTD 2010 vs. 10 YTD 2009). e average 

sale price of homes that sold decreased 5.6% to $461,458. Overall, the average sale price for single family 

homes that sold in Rockland County (inclusive of the river villages) was $433,096, up 0.1% over the same 

period last year. 

March YTD 2010 vs. March YTD 2009 - Condos 

New inventory (the number of condos going on the market) increased 3% (36 YTD 2010 vs. 35 YTD 

2009). ere was no change in the number of sales (9 YTD 2010 vs. 9 YTD 2009). e average sale price 

of condos that sold increased 15.7% to $500,083. Overall, the average sale price for condos that sold in 

Rockland County (inclusive of the river villages) was $281,225, up 1.7% over the same period last year. K 

An open community forum. 

Letters 

to the editor 

Opinions expressed are those of each 

letter writer, not necessarily 

those of The Nyack Villager 

Bicycle-Free Zone? 

To e Nyack Villager— 

is letter is based on personal experience as 

here they come again! Every spring they descend 

on Nyack like a swarm of brightly-colored 

locusts. Yes, the bicyclist horde clad in 

their Spider-Man costumes has returned to 

bring weekend traffic in our village to a crawl. 

Besides choking our narrow streets through 

sheer quantity, my other gripe is that many of 

them wish to have it both ways: ey want 

drivers to treat them as though they are motorists, 

but then they don't adhere to the rules 

of the road, brazenly riding through stop signs 

and red lights. Well, I for one have had 

enough. I am not so naive to believe that we 

can get a law passed to make Nyack a bycyclistfree 

zone, but I propose this: We make it illegal 

for anyone to be wearing a super hero 

costume on any day other than Halloween. 

at should take our streets back. Problem 

solved. 

—John Fredericks, Nyack 

Happy 65th Anniversary! 

To e Nyack Villager— 

My wife & I were married on 9/30/44 in 

the Dutch Reformed Church In West Nyack. 

One of the ministers was the Rev. Paul Malefyt. 

He was also my wife's father. Could you 

please suggest where I may get an "official" 

record of this event. Sixty five years together 

and "they" still want a piece of paper! 

If you can help, thank you very much. 

—Charles & Grace Mallory, DeLand, FL 


welcomes letters on all 

subjects from its readers. 

The address to which to 

send your letter appears 

on calendar page 25 


To the eatre with Holly Caster 

Off, Off, Off, 

‘Way Off Broadway 

Summer’s coming. Feel like 

taking a trip? Up in the 

Berkshires, about 3 hours 

away from us, you’ll find 

good ice cream, luscious nature, non-chain 

bookshops, interesting museums & great theater. 

A few years ago I traveled to the Great Barrington 

area just to see Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. 

In the cast were Broadway vets Jeff McCarthy 

and Donna McKechnie, and film-dubbing legend 

Marni Nixon (the voice for Deborah Kerr 

in e King and I and Audrey Hepburn in My 

Fair Lady). Follies is in my top five favorite musicals, 

and I’d give an “A” to the production. 

Last year Marin Mazzie, of Broadway’s Ragtime, 

Passion, and Man of La Mancha, among others, 

was a heartbreaking, powerhouse of a Blanche 

duBois in A Streetcar Named Desire. ese theaters 

attract quality people because they do quality 

productions. Even the non-Broadway performers 

are worth seeing. e first production I ever 

saw of Sondheim’s Assassins starred “unknowns” 

at the Unicorn eater; the production was better 

than the subsequent Broadway production. 

Here’s a sampling of what’s on this summer: 

• e Berkshire eatre Festival: Jason Robert 

Brown’s e Last Five Years, Molnár’s e Guardsman, 

Macbeth, Albee’s A Delicate Balance. 

• Unicorn eatre (the 122-seat 2nd stage of 

the BTF): Beckett’s Endgame, Rodgers & Hart’s 

Babes in Arms. 

• Barrington Stage Company: Sweeney Todd 

with Jeff McCarthy and Tony winner Harriet 

Harris; Christopher Hampton’s Art; Alan Ayckbourn’s 

Absurd Person Singular. 

• Williamstown eatre Festival: Guare’s Six Degrees 

of Separation; A Funny ing Happened on 

the Way to the Forum; Wilder’s Our Town; Wilson’s 

Fifth of July. 

• Shakespeare & Company: e Winter’s Tale; 

e Comedy of Errors. 

Also, three beloved Broadway divas will be 

spending time in Massachusetts: An Evening 

with Patti Lupone, July 11; Elaine Stritch, August 

15, both at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts 

Center. An Evening with Sutton Foster, August 

22, at the Berkshire eatre. 

Essentially, for the price of one Broadway 

ticket, you can spend an entire day in the Berkshires, 

go out for dinner, see a Broadway-quality 

show, and have ice cream for dessert. What a 

bargain! 

For more info: www.berkshiretheatre.org 

www.barringtonstage.org wtfestival.org/ 

www.shakespeare.org www.mahaiwe.org 

Holly Caster has lived in Nyack with her playwright 

husband, two kids, and two cats for over 

10 years. She is by trade a writer and by nature 

a fan of theater, movies, books, history, & art. K 



Carnegie Room Concerts 

Piano concerts at 7:30 every Saturday at 

Nyack Library, 59 S. B’dway, Nyack. 

• May 1—music for piano and string quartet. 

• May 15—Tammy Lum performs Schumann, 

Cameron, Villa-Lobos, and Mussorgsky. 

• May 22—Lisa Yui performs Beethoven, 

Gottschalk and Chopin. 

• May 29—Nataniel Lanasa performs Bach, 

Beethoven, Satie, Crumb, and Ravel. 

Tix: $20/$17 senior/$12 young adult/ $10 child. 

Details: visit www.carnegieroom.org or call 

(845) 608-3593 

Rockland Conservatory of Music 

• Celebrating Our Students 

Performances by Rockland Conservatory String 

Orchestra, Suzuki Players, Children’s Chorus, 

Women’s Chorus & Men’s Chorus, special appearances 

by this year’s graduating seniors. 

Sun, May 2 at 2pm; at the Cultural Arts Center 

Rockland Community College, 145 College Road, 

Suffern, NY. (Exit 14B off the NYS ruway) 

$12—gen’l adm. $7—students & senior adults. 

Music & Magic in Memorial Park 

e Lanti Music Studio and Mario the Magician 

will perform for children and their families, with 

uplifting sing-alongs followed by Mario's Magic 

Show full of inventive routines, slapstick comedy 

and audience participation. Face painting and 

free raffle with great prizes. 

Sun, May 23rd at 2pm. in Memorial Park, 

Nyack. Free Admission. Info: (917) 605-0662 

or katie@mariothemagician.com 

Hudson River Pianofest 

Open to late intermediate & advanced students 

and adult amateurs: two days of piano master 

classes, workshops and concerts featuring worldrenowned 

pianist and pedagogue, Ann Schein & 

other eminent artists & teachers. Info: visit— 

hudsonriverpianofest.org 

May 21 & 22 Nyack College School of Music 

Pardington Hall, 1 South Blvd, Nyack 675-4687 

Rivertown Film Society 

Tickets—$9 general admission, $7 seniors, $6 for students. Info: 

(845) 348-1880. http://www.rivertownfilm.org/ 

Note: circumstances beyond the control of e 

Rivertown Film Society makes it necessary to 

cancel the Nyack Center screening for May. e 

next one will take place in June. 

• BROKeN eMBRACeS 

Sun May 2 at 11:30am at Lafayette eatre, Suffern 

Director: Pedro Almodóvar, stars Penélope Cruz 

Spain, 2009, 127 minutes, Spanish with English 

subtitles, rated R for sexual content. 

“... a voluptuary of a film, drunk on primary colors 

using the devices of a Hitchcock to distract us with 

surfaces while the sinister uncoils beneath. As it 

ravished me, I longed for a freeze frame to allow me 

to savor a shot.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times 

• The LAST STATION 

Sun May 23, 11:30am at Lafayette eatre, Suffern 

Director: Michael Hoffman, Christopher 

Plummer, Helen Mirren, Paul Giamatti, James 

McAvoy. Germany/Russia/UK, 2009, 112 min. 

A story of the twilight of the life of Leo Tolstoy: a 

man of letters becoming a spiritual guru. 

• DeCONSTRUCTING DAD 

Fri May 21 at 7:30pm at Sullivan eater, Maguire Hall, 

St. omas Aquinas College, 125 Route 340, Sparkill, NY 

Info (845) 353-2568 or www.rivertownfilm.org 

A preview of Stan Warnow’s soon-to-be-released film 

documentary on the music, machines, & mystery of 

Raymond Scott, who created the music for Warner 

Brothers cartoons; his electronic musical instruments 

paved the way for today’s synthesizers and sequencers. 

Q&A follows screening. Visit www.scottdoc.com 

AT THE LIBRARIES 

Nyack Library 

59 S. Broadway, Nyack. Info & reg: (845) 358-3370 ext. 14. 

Local Author event—(registration required) 

e Great Oom: e Improbable Birth of Yoga 

in America Robert Love, of South Nyack, traces 

the history of yoga in America and the story of 

Pierre Bernard, aka e Great Oom. 

Sat May 22 at 7pm 

• Understanding the Spirit of Asian Medicine 

Neil R. Borodkin on the principles of Asian philosophy 

and medicine and what we can learn 

from them about health and well-being. 

Tues May 4 at 7pm 

7 


• Cyber Safety for Families 

Advice to parents on reducing risks by talking to 

kids about how they communicate online and off. 

Wed May 19 at 7pm 

• Teen Crafting 

Make a special gift for mom for Mother’s Day. 

Fri May 7 at 4pm 

• Geocaching for Teens 

An introduction to Geocaching, a new outdoor 

activity sweeping the nation. Locate hidden 

treasures in Rockland County. 

Sat, May 8 at 11am 

Piermont Public Library 

25 Flywheel Park West, Piermont. Hours: Mon to urs, 

10-8; Fri, 12-5; Sat, 12-4. Open some Sundays for special 

events. Info: 359-4595. Events free unless otherwise noted. 

• In the Gallery 

Works by 41 South Orangetown Middle School 

students working in pen and ink, scratchboard, 

watercolor, acrylic painting and pencil drawing. 

Exhibit runs throughout May; a reception is 

planned for Sun, May 2 from 2 to 4pm 

• Toddler Storytime with Agnes and Judy 

Mondays at 11am. 

• Special Concert 

Rudresh Mahanthappa, rising star in the world 

of jazz, performs here with Carlo de Rosa, a 

Latin-American bassist who has worked with the 

greats in the Latin and Jazz world. 

Sun, May 16 at 2pm 

• Moon River Music Together with Catherine. 

Musical experience for the very young child. 

Wed, May 19 at 11am 

Valley Cottage Library 

110 Route 303. Handicap accessible. Info: (845) 268-7700. 

M-Th. 10-9pm, Fri-Sat. 10-5pm. You can register for programs 

online at www.vclib.org Books for discussion groups 

are available 1 month before discussion. 

• In Our Gallery 

My America—paintings by Herb Rogoff 

ru May 20 

• Documentary Films—ursdays at 4pm 

5/6—Pete Seeger: e Power of Song 

5/13—Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire 

5/20—Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story 

• Gardening Inspiration Annuals & Perennials 

Learn to use both effectively in your landscape to 

maintain long-lasting bloom all season long. 

Have coffee with Master Gardeners of Cornell 

Cooperative Extension. 

Sat, May 8 from 10:30am to noon 

• Sensational Scrapbooking! (please register) 

Tips & tricks, tools and products for an evening 

of scrapbooking fun. Bring copies of favorite 

photos (originals not recommended) and we'll 

provide materials and instructions. 

Tues, May 18 at 7pm 

• Book Discussion Series (please register) 

Orlando: a Biography by Virginia Woolf 

urs, May 20 at 7pm 

• Real Reads! Nonfiction Reading Club (register) 

Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick 

Robinson—a memoir of a Navy Seal, on the 

Afghanistan-Pakistan border. 

Mon, May 24 at 7pm 

New City Library 

220 North Main Street, New City, NY. Contact: Sally 

Pellegrini, 634-4997, ext. 139; spellegr@rcls.org 

• A Premier Performance 

Brazilian born pianist Vanessa Cunha, fresh from 

her debut at Carnegie Hall, will perform works 

by Liszt, Rachmaninoff and others. 


• A hidden Illness 

Mental illness and its impact on patients and 

families. View the film,e Fisher King, then join 

in discussing society's perception of mental illness. 

Bring lunch; coffee/tea will be served. 

Fri, May 21 at 1pm 

• Discovering Genealogy 

Rockland’s Genealogy Society members share the 

basics: collecting vital statistics, using cemetery 

records, census records and New City Library's 

Rockland Room. 

Sat, May 22, 2pm 

• City Winds Trio Concert 

Enjoy the magical music of oboe, flute, bassoon. 


• Big Band Sound 

Annual outdoor Big Band concert. Bring chair or 

blankets. If it rains, the concert moves indoors. 

Sun, May 30 at 2pm K 


HOUSES OF WORSHIP in the River Villages 

Reformed Church of Nyack 

Corner South Broadway and Burd Street, Nyack NY 

(845) 358-5518 e-mail to frchurch@optonline.net 

Pastor Tom Danney 

SCHEDULE FOR MAY 

Sunday Worship Services 10:30am 

Casa de Oracion Para Las Naciones 2pm Sun, 8pm Tues 

French Speaking Seventh Day Adventists - Saturday 10am 

First Haitian Church of Rockland Sunday 11am and 6pm 

Soup Supper—Wednesdays 5:30pm 

Hosting Rockland Camerata Concert May 8 

Mothers Day Servuce 10:30am May 9 

Palisades Presbyterian Church 

Washington Spring Road, Palisades, NY (345) 359-3147 

Pastor: Reverend Angela Maddalone 

www.ppc10964.org 

Sunday worship service: 10am, Sunday School: 10am 

Communion Sunday: Nov 1 

Bible study: Wednesdays 12:15 Parish House 

Children’s Playgroup: Thursdays 10—noon 

Choir Rehearsal: Thursdays 8 pm 

May 9 Healing Service 11:30 Prayer for healing of our body, 

mind. Whether you are in need of healing or you wish to pray 

on behalf of someone else, you are most welcome to join us 

(second Sunday of every month). 

May 31 Memorial Day Pancake Breakfast 8-10:30am 

St.John the Baptist RC Church 

895 Piermont Ave, Piermont NY. Info: 359-0078 

Msgr. John T. Mulligan, pastor 

www.stjohnspiermont.e-paluch.com 

SCHEDULE OF MASSES: 

Saturday Vigil: 5pm 

Sunday: 8am, 10:30am, 5pm Spanish Mass 1pm 

Weekdays Mon thru Fri at 7:45am, Saturday 9am 

Reconciliation: 4:30pm Saturday or by appointment. 

• Friday, May 7 - First Friday Adoration 

• Saturday, May 8 - First Communiuon 11 a.m. 

• Thursday May 13 Ascension Thurs Masses at 9am & 7pm 

(Vigil Mass Wed. 7pm.) 

• Saturday, May 22 Confirmation 11am 

St. John's Walking Club meets every Thursday at 10am to walk 

the Piermont Pier. Group meets at gazebo in front of View 

Restaurant (north side of pier. 

Grace Episcopal Church 

130 First Avenue, Nyack, NY 10960 

The Rev. Richard L. Gressle, Rector 

The Rev. Emily Sieracki, Assistant to the Rector 

(845) 358-1297; website—www.gracechurchnyack.org 

Worship Schedule 

Sundays: 

8am Holy Eucharist (Rite One) 

9:30am Holy Eucharist (Family Svc) followed by church schl 

11:00am Holy Eucharist (Senior Choir) 

(2nd & Last) 6:30pm French/Creole Mass (Bradley Chapel) 

The Haitian Congregation of Good Samaritan 

IN MAY: 

Sun, May 16: Yard Sale to benefit Church Youth Service 

Mission trip to Nicaragua 

EVERY MONTH 

Men’s Prayer Breakfast: 2nd & 4th Thursdays at 7am 

Midnight Run Meal Preparation 2nd Saturdays at 10am 

Every Sunday: Food collection for People to People 

Unitarian Society of Rockland 

130 Concklin Road, Pomona, NY 10970 (Exit 12N, Pal Pkwy) 

Phone: (845) 354-1789 e-mail: administrator@fusrc.org 

website: www.fusrc.org 

Sunday worship services 10:30am followed by fellowship hour. 

Religious education classes 10:30am unless otherwise noted. 

5-2—Rev. Harry Green, What Kind of Cult Have I Joined? 

5-9—Laurie Young: Mother’s Day: The Spirituality of Parenting 

5-16—Rev. Harry Green: A Bridge To Tomorrow 

5-30—Rev. Harry Green: Joseph Priestley's Unitarianism 

Congregation Sons of Israel 

300 N. Broadway, Upper Nyack, NY 10960 (845) 358-3767 

SCHEDULE FOR MAY 

Friday evening services 7pm. May 14 Family Shabbat and 

Main Service, 7pm. * 

Saturday services 9:30am. May 15 Junior Congregation and 

Tot Shabbat * 

Sunday morning services 9am * 

Tuesday, May 18, 7:30 p.m. Shavuot Service. * 

Wednesday, May, 19, 9:30am. Shavuot Service, Torah Reading: 

The Ten Commandments (on the anniversary of receiving 

them) “Akdamut” special Shavuot Piyyut (poem) recited. * 

Wednesday, May 19, 7pm. Shavuot Service. * 

Thursday, May 20, 6:30am and 9:30am. Second Day Shavuot, 

Book of Ruth chanted and Yizkor Service. * 

* call CSI office for info, times, 845-358-3767. 

Piermont Reformed Church 

A center for spiritual development, cultural events, and service to the community: visit piermontchurch.org 

361 Ferdon Ave., Piermont 845-359-4637. Rev. John VandenOever 

Saturday Worship: 5pm, Sunday Worship: 11am. 


GyM & MUSIC PLAy FOR TODDLERS 

Gym & Music PlayCircle with Sukey Molloy 

Mon & Tues for walkers (14 to 35 mos with adult) 

10 to 11:15am 

Mommy & Me Music and Gym play for tots 

$105 Members, $140 General Public 

Rockland YMCA in Nyack 35 S. Broadway, Nyack 

Classes begin April 26. Info: 353-2268 

ASSOC. OF UNIVERSITy WOMEN (AAUW) 

• Rockland Readers Book club meets 

urs, May 6, 1pm at Barnes & Noble, 140 Rockland 

Plaza, Nanuet. 

• AAUW Rockland Branch Book Group meets 

May 19, 4pm. at New City Library, 220 North 

Main Street, New City. 

• Great Decisions hosted by AAUW meets 

urs, May 6 at 7pm at New City Library, 220 N. 

Main St., New City. 

ANNUAL RED CROSS BENEFIT DINNER 

Annual dinner to benefit the American Red Cross 

will honor Matt Rand, Better Homes and Gardens 

Rand Realty, Richard Roth, MD, Hudson Heart Associates, 

PC and present the Rockland County Haiti 

Relief Campaign with the Community Partnership 

Award. 

To purchase a ticket, place a journal ad or become a 

sponsor, e-mail rocklandevents@nyredcross.org or 

call 358-0833. 

urs, May 13 at 6pm at Restaurant X and Bully 

Boy Bar, 117 South Route 303, Congers, NY 

Community Notes continues on page 23 


BOOK TALK by Shel Haber 

“THE GREAT OOM: THE IMPROBABLE 

BIRTH OF YOGA IN AMERICA” 

by Robert Love 

Robert Love, of South Nyack, takes 

us by the hand and leads us though 

the strange and wonderful life of 

Pierre Bernard, a.k.a. Oom The 

Omnipotent—a household name in the America 

of the 1920s and 30s and easily the most famous 

citizen of Nyack, his adopted home town. 

The book describes how Bernard popularized yoga 

in American and how yoga made him rich. At the 

height of his career he owned 265 acres of property 

on which stood twelve houses, from mansions 

to cottages. Also a zoo. 

Though he had a large, devoted following, it had 

not always been this way. Before settling in 

Nyack in the first decade of the century, Pierre 

Bernard had been denounced as a fraud and spiritual 

con artist. He was accused of having sexual 

orgies with young girls. The New York City tabloid 

press contemptuously called him 

“Oom the Omnipotent, Loving Guru 

of the Tantrics," an epithet that would 

be repeated all his life. Encouraged by 

many in the clergy, his yoga clubs 

were raided by police and for years he 

was under surveillance by the Federal 

government. 

Bernard left New York City in 1919 

and set up shop in Nyack, where he was regarded 

as just another eccentric; the difference was he 

brought a lot of business to Main Street. 

The Clarkstown Country Club (his Nyack yoga 

school), became famous, frequented by some of 

the richest folk in the nation—the Morgans, 

Goodrichs and Vanderbilts. Composers, writers 

and other celebrities joined his inner circle. 

Over the years he became a bank president, supported 

local baseball and played first base. He 

died in 1955 at age eighty. He left many friends 

and many who praised the healthy life style 

Pierre Bernard’s yoga had taught them. K 


ELMWOOD PLAyHOUSE BENEFIT 

Noises off, the hit comedy directed by Gerry Garrigan, 

is being offered this month as a benefit for Palisades 

Presbyterian Church, Washington Spring 

Road, Palisades. 

Sunday, May 9. Performance 8pm at Elmwood 

Playhouse, 10 Park Street Nyack, NY. For tickets 

($25) please contact Mary Ann Garland (845) 

359-3288. 

TWO EVENTS AT PIERMONT REFORMED 

361 Ferdon Ave., Piermont 845-359-4637. 

• Come Unplugged. Acoustic jam and unmiked 

open mike. Come to play or listen. Admission and 

refreshments are free. Hosted by John Dyer. 

Friday, May 21 at 8pm. 

• Music recital featuring Jacquelyn Drechsler, 

flute, and Matthew Beier, guitar. 

Saturday, June 5, 7:30pm 

NyACk HOSPITAL HONORED 

Nyack Hospital was named a National Finalist by 

Plansponsor Magazine, a trade publication for organizations 

and professionals in the employee benefits 

industry, as Plan Sponsor of the Year. e Hospital 

was nominated for this award as a 403(b)/Non- 

Profit Organization. 

Plansponsor honors organizations that work to help 

build more financially secure retirement plans for 

their employees. 

Community Notes concludes on page 27 


Birthstone: 

EMERALD 

symbol of 

happiness 

C 

L 

May 2010 

Flower: 

LILY OF THE VALLEY 

symbol of return 

of happiness 

last quarter 

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

Friends’ 

Walking 

Tour 

story page 8 

9 

new moon 

10 11 12 13 14 D 15 

Mothers 

Day 

K 

Environmental 

Committee 

meets 7p 

Nyack Justice 

Court 5p 

Morning 

Music Club 

awards 

concert 

story page 15 


Court 9:30a 

Nyack Water 

Bd 4:30 p 

Nyack Village 

Bd 7:30 p 

1st quarter 

17 18 19 20 R 21 22 

full moon 

23 24 25 26 27 S 28 29 

pg 20 

16 

Sunday 

30 

Nyack ZBA 

meets 

7:30p 

Monday 

31 

c 

Every year, back comes Spring, with nasty little birds yapping their fool heads off and the ground 

all mucked up with plants.—Dorothy Parker 1893—1967 

SUN MON TUES WED THU FRI SAT 

Other events in May 

1 

Rockland Conservatory Concert May 2 page 20 Roaring 20s Party May 15 page 13 GAGA 

Hula Hoop Contest May 8 page 14 Hopper House Photo Exhibit May 15 page 16 ARTS 

Mother’s Day Concert May 9 page 9 Goosetown Bazaar May 15 page 17 FESTIVAL 

Rockland Choral Society May 15 page 8 Parent-Child Cruise &Auction May 15 page 17 story page 9 

Nyack High School Presents May 15 page 10 Spring Hike in Harriman Park May 16 page 14 

Multi Cultural Day May 15 page 13 AIDS Walk 10am Central Park NYC May 16 

FFCC 

Sing We 

Enchanted 

story page 9 

PINKSTER 

story page 15 

MAGIC SHOW 

Memorial Park 

Term Begins 

STUDIO 

ART 

CLASSES 

at RoCA 

story page 8 

PB meets 7;30p 


Court 5p 

Nyack Housing 

Auth meets 3p 


Court 5p 

School Board 

VOTE 

today 


Court 5p 

Nyack ARB 

meets 7:30p 

Parks 

Commission 

meets 7:30p 


Court 9:30a 


Farmers’ 

Market 

opens for 

season 

story page 10 


Court 9:30a 


Court 9:30a 

Nyack Village 

Bd 7:30 p 

Free First 

Friday Film 

story page 8 

o 

R 

Guitar 

Concertat 

1stReformed 

story page 10 

Music 

Works 

Coffeehouse 

story page 9 

Hudson 

River 

Pianofest 

story page 20 

Plant Sale 

at Grace 

Church 

story page 10 

Garden Club 

Plant Sale 

story page 13 

7 

Great 


House 

Tour 

story page 6 

Author of 

Oom the 

Omnipotent 

at Nyack 

Library 

story page 20 

Saturday 

Carnegie 

Room 

Piano Concert 

(every Sat) 

story page 20 



Founded in 1994, The Nyack Villager is published monthly, mailed on or about the first of each month to every postal address in eight Hudson River villages—Nyack, 

Upper Nyack, Central Nyack, South Nyack, Grand View, Upper Grandview, Piermont &Palisades (zipcodes 10960, 10964 & 10968). 

Editor 

JAN HABER 

Columnists • PETER SEGALL DVM • JEROME GREENBERG DC 

Contributing Editor 

SHEL HABER 

• DUNCAN LEE, ESQ • JON FELDMAN • JIM LEINER • THOM 

Correspondent 

FRANK LoBUONO 

KLEINER • DONNA COX • DAN SHAW, LCSW • VIVIANE 

Publishers 

JAN & SHEL HABER 

BAUQUET FARRE • TIM BARTZ • DOROTHY GOREN Ed.D 

Community advisor 

FRANCES PRATT 

• HOLLY CASTER • GEORGE MANIERE 

Office Manager 

JOYCE BRESSLER 

NYACK VILLAGER ADDRESSES PO Box 82, Nyack, NY 10960-0082 e-mail: info@nyackvillager.com 

• Editorial / advertising phone (845) 735-7639 • Fax (845) 735-7669 

on the Internet at www.nyackvillager.com The Nyack Villager is on the Internet courtesy of Devine Design. 

Published monthly by Nyack Villager, LLC © 1994—2008 

All rights reserved. Reproduction without written permission is forbidden. 

Phone Numbers 

exchange numbers 845 

unless otherwise noted 

AMBULANCE CORPS 911 

non-emergency 358 4824 

TO REPORT A FIRE 911 

POLICE EMERGENCY 911 

non-emergency 359 3700 

POISON CONTROL 1-800 + 336 6997 

RPT CHILD ABUSE 1-800 + 342 3720 

BATTERED WOMEN 634 3344 

HOSP EMERGENCY 348 2345 

Nyack VIllage Hall, Nyack 9 N Broadway 

OFFICE OF VILLAGE CLERK 

MAYOR'S OFFICE 

OFFICE OF TREASURER 

BUILDING DEPT 

DEPT PUBLIC WORKS 

FIRE INSPECTOR 

JUSTICE COURT 

PARKING AUTHORITY 

WATER DEPT (non emerg) 

WATER PLANT EMERG 

HOUSING AUTH 15 Highvw 

SECTION 8E 

South Nyack VIllage Hall 282 S B’wy, S. Nyack 


358 0287 

BUILDING DEPT 

358 0244 

JUSTICE COURT 

358 5078 

POLICE NON EMERGENCY 

358 0206 

Upper Nyack VIllage Hall N. Bdwy, U. Nyack 


Grand View VIllage Hall 118 River Rd 


BUILDING INSPECTOR 

JUSTICE COURT 

Piermont VIllage Hall 478 Piermont Ave 


JUSTICE COURT 

MUNICIPAL GARAGE 

YOUTH RECREATION 

THE NYACK VILLAGER 

358 0548 

358 0229 

358 3581 

358 4249 

358 3552 

358 6245 

358 4464 

358 3851 

358 0641 

358 3734 

358 2476 

358 2591 

358 0084 

358 2919 

348-0747 

358-4148 

359 1258 

359-1258 ext. 310 

359-1717 

359-1258 ext. 326 

735 7639 

NYACK PUBLIC SCHOOLS 

S. ORANGETOWN CENTRAL SCHL DIST 

NYACK PUBLIC LIBRARY 

PALISADES FREE LIBRARY 

PIERMONT PUBLIC LIBRARY 

NYACK POST OFFICE 

PALISADES POST OFFICE 

PIERMONT POST OFFICE 

NYACK CENTER 

HEAD START OF ROCKLAND 

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Starting on the first of each month and while they last, free copies of The 

Nyack Villager are available at Nyack, Piermont, New City & Valley Cottage 

Libraries, Best Western Inn Nyack, Koblin’s Pharmacy, Runcible Spoon, 

Hogan’s in Nyack, Nyack Village Hall, Lanie Lou’s Café in Blauvelt, Orangetown 

Town Hall, Rockland Center for the Arts. 

Advertisers— 

The Nyack Villager is the only 

magazine that is MAILED every 

month exclusively to every resident 

of all eight river villages 

from Upper Nyack to Palisades 

NY—very choice territory! 

Everybody reads every issue 

cover to cover so you know 

your ad dollars are working 

hard for you. Ad prices start 

as low as $112. 

And, if you want us to, we’ll 

design your first ad for 

you—at no extra cost. 

Call (845) 735 -7639 


The Lifetime Gardener 

by Jon Feldman 

Do Not Disturb! 

Privacy is a bit like dessert. We all 

want it, but are sometimes embarrassed 

to ask for it. 

Actions taken toward achieving 

property privacy could be seen as 

un-neighborly, with possible connotations 

of off-putting attitudes and chilling 

border relations. 

I think my outlook is pretty much the norm 

when it comes to being observed and disturbed 

—especially at home. When work is done and 

I retreat to my own space, I want to unwind 

in an environment solely of my own inhabitance. 

I need to be free of distractions. No 

nosy neighbors, barking dogs or whining leaf 

blowers, thanks very much. 

Seems a simple desire, perhaps even an inalienable 

right, right? Unfortunately for most of 

us, reaching this outer nirvana isn’t as simple 

as drawing a curtain inside the house. 

I’ve had success increasing seclusion for my 

overly-exposed clients through simple solutions, 

none of which are earth-shattering in originality, 

but nonetheless effective. Most involve 

creating a screen along a property line, either 

with fencing or planting an evergreen hedge. 

e screen needn’t always resemble the suburban 

version of Fenway’s ‘Green Monster’. A 

few large evergreen trees planted at strategic 

angles between you and the offending views 

can accomplish your goals more subtly. 

Whenever possible, I prefer the green solution. 

Plants are perceived as ‘friendlier’ than even 

the nicest privacy fence and they provide a 

softer backdrop for your enjoyment. 

When space is at a premium, as it 

can be in our area, fencing might be 

the only prudent option. e future 

growth of trees must be considered 

before planting to insure a favorable 

long term outcome. A poorly conceived 

hedge planting in a narrow 

space will eventually claim the very 

ground you want to use. 

is caveat is especially true if choosing bamboo, 

a group of plants still very much a curiosity 

here in the Northeast. ough most of us 

are aware of its reputation for rapid growth 

and appetite for global domination, it is too 

often planted without regard to its growth 

habit. A very un-neighborly thing to do. 

ese oversized members of the lawn grass 

family can provide elegant screening above 

ground. However, it’s the nasty underground 

spreading rhizomes that will quickly do us in. 

Two years of stealth growth are all that’s needed 

before a rampant eruption of ‘shooting’ culms 

begins. Nearby real estate, plants and the occasional 

sleeping dog will be engulfed from every 

direction. 

Make your material choices carefully and heed 

my sagely-offered cautions. 

Once you have successfully protected your 

modesty, you should feel free to fetch that box 

of doughnuts you’ve been keeping under your 

car’s front seat. After all, it’s time to enjoy 

your just desserts. 

Jon Feldman is the owner of G. biloba Garden Environments. 

Reach him at www.gbiloba.com or at 

353-3448. K 

e world's favorite season is the Spring. All things seem possible in May. —Edwin Way Teale 

Spring is Nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" —Robin Williams 

Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world. —Virgil A. Kraft 

Science never drummed up as effective a tranquilizer as a sunny Spring day. —W. Earl Hall 


Regent’s Review 

For five years, Michael Birnbaum 

has offered Regents Review 

classes for the NY State 

Regents exam, held at Nyack 

College. It is a program started 

35 years ago in Staten Island 

by Arnold Birnbaum, his father. Still family 

owned & operated, the Birnbaums now serve 

Long Island and Westchester as well as Rockland. 

Classes are one-day refresher courses, held on 

three weekends in June, just before the tests. 

Students spend an entire day on a single subject, 

as they review a year’s worth of material. 

Michael’s teachers are fully NY State certified in 

their subject and use practice exams with questions 

from previous year’s tests. 

Based on the feedback, it is a highly successful 

program that increases confidence for both parents 

and students when they need it most— 

right before their regent’s exam. 

For more information or to register, 

call (914) 420-0732 

or visit www.PasstheRegents.com 

Classes fill up quickly, so register early. 

NEW KIDS 

ON THE BLOCK 

Sanctuary 

Drawing upon her experience 

as a curator of Asian art, 

Laura Gould created her first 

shop, Sanctuary, seven years 

ago in Beacon, NY. When 

the time came to expand, she 

moved to Nyack. Laura says her shop is truly 

a sanctuary for people who live a conscious 

life-style. Sanctuary shows collectibles from 

South East Asia, Buddha figures, furniture and 

accessories, women’s clothing, her own custom 

made jewelry and gifts. When possible, the 

items are Fair Trade, maintaining ethical standards 

to support the artists who make the 

pieces. She likes to work with independent 

designers rather than buy mass-produced 

items. Everything is hand picked; clothing is 

organic & made in the USA. 

With her husband, Mike Sheehan, Laura’s 

other company, called Team Peace, Fashion 

With a Purpose, donates proceeds to children’s 

charities. You can see their line of T-shirts on 

Sanctuary’s Facebook page. Or drop in the store. 

Sanctuary, 60 South Broadway, Nyack 

Hours: Tues—Sun, 11to 6 

Website: www.Sanctuary-Home.com K 


GREAT BACkyARD BIRD COUNT 

e results for 2010 are in and it was a recordbreaking 

year for participation. 

During the 4-day event in February, more than 

97,200 bird checklists were submitted by an estimated 

63,000 volunteer bird watchers from across 

the US and Canada. 

Top 10 birds reported on most checklists in the 

2010 backyard count— 

1) Northern Cardinal 2) Dark-eyed Junco 

3) Mourning Dove 4) Downy Woodpecker 

5) Blue Jay 6) American Goldfinch 

7) Tufted Titmouse 8) House Finch 

9) American Crow 10) Black-capped Chickadee 

Visit “Explore the Results” at www.birdcount.org to 

view the list of Top 10 birds reported in your area. K 

TO SEND US A NEWS RELEASE 

Please be brief—50 to 100 words is about 

maximum for our Community Notes and 

Arts & Entertainment columns. 

ousand-plus word essays have a way of 

triggering a reflex in our right hand index 

finger to hit the delete key. 

Be sure to include a number a reader can 

call or e-mail to reach you for more info. 

Be sure to include the cost of admission, if 

there is any. 

Deadline is always the 15th of this month 

for next month’s Villager. E-mail to 

info@nyackvillager.com

May, 2010 - The Nyack Villager

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