What is that sound I hear? Can it be the “thuck” of a fastball hitting a catcher’s mitt? Is it the crack of a wooden bat hitting that round, white orb with the red stitching? Why indeed it is. A new baseball season is upon us. It is time for me to loosen up my old pitching arm. Hopefully, I will be able to send these woeful batters back to their team bench hitless, their bats silent.

So, play ball! Step up to the plate batter. Here comes my first pitch. This will be a 90-mile-an-hour fastball, just under your chin whiskers. It’s good to put a little fear into a batter’s mind.  Read more

HONESDALE, PA — Songwriter/guitarist Jay Mankita will appear at The Cooperage on Saturday, April 20 with a concert of original songs. The show is presented by RiverFolk Concerts, and is open to the public. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the concert starts at 8 p.m.  Read more

HAWLEY, PA — Harmony Presents will host Rebecca Haviland and Whiskey Heart on Saturday, April 13 in the Hawley Silk Mill at 7:30 p.m. Their new tune “Collide with Me” was recently selected as a finalist for the 2012 International Songwriting Competition.  Read more

HURLEYVILLE, NY — “Vaudeville in the Catskills,” a variety show produced by Bethel Theatre Works, will show on Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, April 14 at 2 p.m. at the Sullivan County Museum & Cultural Center.  Read more

LIBERTY, NY — “Moments,” a photography exhibit featuring the work of Barbara Ward-Blank, Kathy Lambert and Rob Tuttle will open on April 19, with a reception an artists’ talk the following day, Saturday, April 20 from 4 to 6 p.m. The exhibit will run through May 19. The Liberty Museum and Arts Center is located at 46 South Main St. Visit www.libertymuseum.com or contact 845/292-2394.

PORT JERVIS, NY — Former Port Jervis resident Ryan Jones, now associate director at the Culinary Institute of America and member of the Hudson Valley Home Brewers, will teach a class on how to make beer at home on Thursday, April 18 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Hub at Port Jervis Free Library. Jones will give a quick overview of the 7,000-year-old practice of beer making and then he will brew some beer, explaining each step so everyone can try it at home.  Read more

Thank you, Mother Nature, for (finally) coming through. With April showers nowhere in sight, I’ve a spring in my step and have flung open the windows, hung laundry on the line and am preparing for the house cleaning that is always so good for the soul. The change of seasons awakens more than the birds, bees and darling buds of May, and this past week offered events that herald the celebration of life that we all cherish here in the Upper Delaware River Valley.  Read more

LIBERTY, NY — A group of teenagers is crowded around a table full of food, devouring everything edible with an efficiency that would shame a horde of locusts. Of course, that doesn’t prevent them from talking animatedly and keeping constant check on their cell phone screens. At first glance there’s nothing remarkable in this scene—until you listen in on the conversation at hand. These young adults are talking about business and ecology and social justice. This is the weekly meeting of the Youth Economics Group (YEG), held in the basement of First Presbyterian Church of Liberty.  Read more

Spring starts in early January at my house when my husband starts planning his Fedco seed order, reading aloud the enticing descriptions of leeks and lettuces from the catalog. By the time spring officially arrives, the seed trays on the back porch are full of tender shoots that will soon be transplanted to the 30-by-30-foot garden he has nurtured for the past 15 years.  Read more