Narrowsburg News

Talk of Tusten

By GREG TRIGGS
Posted 2/19/20

I used to live in Minneapolis. It was an amazing adventure in my first big city. A beautiful skyline, great football and baseball, terrific restaurants, world-class theatre and a legendary columnist …

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Narrowsburg News

Talk of Tusten

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To hear this read by Greg Triggs, scroll to the bottom of the article.

I used to live in Minneapolis. It was an amazing adventure in my first big city. A beautiful skyline, great football and baseball, terrific restaurants, world-class theatre and a legendary columnist named Barbara Flanagan. She let the Twin Cities know what was what and who was who, three times a week, in the Star-Tribune. She was iconic.

If your name was bold and italicized in her column, you had arrived. When mine finally did, once, I was thrilled—huge validation for a kid from Wisconsin.

Now, years later, I’m in a smaller but equally charming town, the promise of that one brush with glory long since faded, but her inspiration lives on like reruns of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Barbara, this column is for you.

Well kids, it has been a crazy winter here in Nburg, NY. The snow is like a deadbeat dad. It doesn’t know whether it’s coming or going, much less how long it’s going to stay. Here it is February and my lawn is still green, which is nice because it brings out my eyes.

Sleepy little Tusten isn’t sleeping at all. There are all sorts of high jinx and low jinx going on; nice distractions for those with cabin fever. So, here are a few things you should know to stay in the know.

Main Street is buzzing louder than the honeybees on the side of the post office. The new location of the Tusten Cup should be done soon. Owner Val Gregoretti and her wonderful crew will be offering an expanded menu, including more dietary specific menu items and a salad bar. The new deck, parallel to the Narrowsburg Bridge, is going to be glorious. Perfect for a sip or a salad. I can’t wait to be first in line!

Val’s neighbor, the Chi Hive, is offering many a class these days, good for the body and the soul. Each Friday, Susan Mendoza and Sean Corey moderate Chi Sanctuary, featuring moderators such as Martin O’Brien, founder of Grace Street Recovery in Maine. Those hoping to learn or benefit from his passion for addiction and mental health concerns should head to 22 Main St. in Narrowsburg. The workshop starts at 6:30 p.m. and is donation based. You can sign up at www.thechihive.com. 

Busy Bizzy Coy will be joined by Brandi Merolla, Adam Stennett and Karen Mandracchia at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts for a Thursday night, five-week Creativity Workshop with topics ranging from drawing, printmaking, painting, colorizing black and white images, journaling and backward thinking. The fun starts Thursday, March 5. Register at www.bethelwoodscenter.org

You’ll have to wait a bit longer for the biggest red-carpet event of the spring at the Elaine Giguere Building, DVAA Krause Recital Hall. The first weekend in April, you should plan on seeing The Dog Walker by local playwright Catherine Lewis. This original production will be presented by Act Underground under the helm of producer/director of the acting workshop Kyoshin Lohr, with staging by Wendy Kaufman.

The play itself, presented Reader’s Theater style, is a sassy who-done-it, featuring a dog walker with a secret past, a romance novelist and a zoo-working bat-feeding girlfriend. They’re joined by a sleazy doorman, a Russian bombshell and the detective hell-bent on cracking the case. Featuring locals Matt Nolen, Naomi Holoch, Leslie Thompson, Tina Gordon, Thomas Cambridge, Lisa Gonsalvez and R. Scot Porter, the production design by Alan Kehoe and Sean Harrington will be the icing on the tastiest cake served this side of Lava.

Afterward, those in the know will congregate at the Emerald Ballroom for a cocktail, Nora’s Lovin’ Spoonful for an ice cream or at the brand new, sure-to-be-open-by-then Tusten Cup for a slug of something to keep you up all night.

Thanks, Barbara. 

  • Talk of Tusten, read by Greg Triggs.m4a

narrowsburg, tusten, chi hive, bethel woods center

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