FEATURING

Brew Fest and Much More at Penning’s Farm in Warwick, NY

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Written by George L. Nitti and Kerryl Ann Ebneter George L. Nitti and Kerryl Ann Ebneter

Category: Food & Wine Food & Wine

   

 On September 7, 2013 we went to the 2^nd annual Brewfest on the Farm: A Day of Blues and Brews, produced by Penning’s Farm, in Warwick, NY. This is our second year at the event and we noted the significant increase in turnout. The day was perfect for a beer tasting, with ideal end of summer weather. The backdrop, Penning’s Farm, set in their beer garden, just below their apple orchards, could not have been more fitting to hold a festive gathering.

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The main attraction of the event was the chance to sample a large number of craft beers, both domestic and local, from microbreweries from as nearby as Rushing Duck Brewing Co. in Chester, NY and others as far off as Sierra Nevada from California. Approximately 20 breweries participated in all, from which we tried dozens of IPA’s, lagers, ales, porterhouses and specialty brews while tasting the interesting variety of flavors that make up beers and learning about some of the unique processes that go into beer making. For the breweries that were in attendance, click here and visit their websites.

To complement the beer tasting, we were also treated to an afternoon of blues and tunes of the Grateful Dead by Uncle Shoehorn, and The Bendy Effect who played a variety of styles, including a couple of interesting psychedelic pieces.

There was mingling and socializing, people who came to share their passions for beer and have a great time. There was plenty of delicious food to eat, catered by Chumley’s BBQ from Florida, NY, their fare including sumptious ribs, tender chicken, fresh corn, tasty coleslaw and their signature sweet and hot barbeque sauces.

One other highlight of our afternoon was a tour of their hops field, given by Steven Pennings, Jr., where he took us on top of a hill beyond their apple orchards overlooking the Warwick Valley. For us, it was an eye opening experience to see this luscious and aromatic harvest of hops for the first time and to witness the significant role that Penning’s is playing to cultivate and revive a part of Warwick’s agricultural history.

Now offering their dried hops to beer companies like Rushing Duck to use as a staple ingredient in their beer, and for distribution by home brewing and winemaking supplier Mistucky Creek, located just down the road on Rt. 94, Penning’s is feeding into a paradigm that puts not only buying local at front and center, but pioneering conditions for creating more sustainable economies through local partnerships. Their entrepreneurial efforts have helped define the Penning’s success story as they continue to reinvent themselves.

Brewfest is one of many that Penning’s produces year round building on what’s good about local culture. Outside of yearly events such as this, Pennings offers and promotes a wide variety of activities to keep the community and beyond coming back for more in ways of fun and entertainment. At Pennings you can enjoy live music every weekend, weekly trivia night and car shows, an outdoor beer garden and an indoor pub featuring local wines, beers and ciders, delicious food to order, local produce, organic meats and homegrown products, a petting zoo, a garden center and more.

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As the apple picking season heats up in the next several weeks and crowds flock to Warwick's apple picking destinations, you can be sure that Penning's will be firing on all cylinders, spreading their magic touch to visitors that will be eagerly coming through their open doors and out into their lush orchards.

 

 

Howard Shore: Music & Image

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Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Music Music

Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore, who lives and writes in Tuxedo Park, will discuss how musical ideas are initiated and developed during the writing, orchestrating and conducting stages of a film score with specific references to The Lord of the Rings, Hugo, The Aviator, Ed Wood and more. By illustrating his talk with scenes from his films and by citing such diverse influences as nature, nineteenth-century opera and the groundbreaking scores of the 1950s, Shore provides a uniquely personal insight into the art of writing and orchestrating music for moving images.

 

The presentation will be held at St. Mary's-In-Tuxedo, NY at 1:00-2:30 pm, Sept. 28, 2013

Seating is limited.  Please call the Tuxedo Park library at 351-2207 to register.

"Cool Down on the Stone Patio at the Iron Forge Inn" Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce

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Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Business Business

Set foot onto the site of a historic forge in a 1760’s revolutionary era home, where culinary excellence is now the main attraction at The Iron Forge Inn. Join the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce for an after–hours ‘End of Summer Mixer’ on Wednesday, August 28, from 6-8 p.m. at 38 Iron Forge Road in Warwick.

The Iron Forge Inn Chef and Owner Erik Johansen will be hosting the event exclusively for The Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce on a night when the restaurant would otherwise be closed. He said, “ I am looking forward to everyone visiting us for a very special evening and a chance to showcase our establishment.”

Pack plenty of business cards, wear comfortable shoes, and be prepared to meet, greet and socialize with business professionals in a refined country setting. Enjoy a generous offering of farm to table appetizers while meandering thru the hillside to The Stone Garden Patio. Each guest will receive a complimentary glass of wine (cash bar available) and a chance to win a number of free door prizes.

Nestled at the foot of Mount Peter, the family owned restaurant has been famous for its fine country dining for over 50 years. Their modern American cuisine emphasizes fresh local ingredients and the menu is reinvented seasonally. The Iron Forge Inn serves dinner Thursday thru Sunday and brunch every Sunday. They also host beer and wine tasting dinners, cooking classes, live music, and special events.

Join Chamber members for this unique social event. Cost is $10 for members, $20 for non-members. For more information or to make a reservation, please call the Chamber at: 845-986-2720 or e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

The Art of Rosanne Cerbo

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Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Art and Photography Art and Photography

On Sept. 6, Johnny Apollo Gallery in Nyack, NY will present a retrospective of original art by artist Rosanne Cerbo, a Tuxedo resident. All are welcome to visit the gallery and meet this very talented artist, from 5 – 8 p.m.

With over 60 paintings on display at the gallery, many of which she has created in the last six months, Cerbo showcases her versatility as a realistic painter. She had the fortune of studying under notable artists and teachers like Andrew Lattimore, John Osborne and Daniel Wexler and has been inspired by many subjects, including portraits, landscapes, still life and drawing the figure. She says, “These teachers encouraged my tenacious behavior on proceeding on this “journey” of art that never ends. I do a lot of my painting while sleeping – somehow I reach a lot of my solutions that have been troubling me that day in my dreams.”

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As an artist, Cerbo maintains a steady discipline, painting daily, while she continues to learn in an art form where there is no end to learning. She says, “3 times a week I work on my plein air painting, 3 times a week on portrait painting, and one day a week either on nudes or still life. You can never learn enough. You have to keep at it.” She particularly enjoys painting horses, as she has worked with them her whole life.

Cerbo’s long list of awards is a testimony to her talent and steady progress that she has made over the years. Last year we had the fortune of seeing a couple of pieces of her art work at a group art show at the Seligmann Center for the Arts, where she received first prize for a painting she entered. Her awards are extensive. Visit her website to learn more about her work and career as an artist. http://www.rosannecerbofineart.com/

Legacies, Lies and Lullabies: The World of a Second Generation Holocaust Survivor

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Written by Esther Levy Esther Levy

Category: Books and Writing Books and Writing

FORWARD: WHY I WROTE THIS

For fifty-eight years, I've been harboring within me an epic family story, lying dormant beneath the surface and threatening to eat me up alive: My mother and maternal grandparents were Carpathian Mountain People who, for four years, lived in a snake pit, often saw dead people, and worked for murderers. What is even more absurd is that the world believed their community was a cultural center.

No, they weren't criminals, just honorable, valuable, hard-working people, with normal human frailties. Their "crime" was being Jewish in Czechoslovakia in 1941, for which Hitler's Third Reich incarcerated them in the Terezín concentration camp. Only about 75,000 people survived the Nazi camps; of these, about 3,200 adults and 150 children  survived Terezín. Miraculously, three of them were my mother and her parents. I am alive because my grandfather made custom boots for the SS, the elite Nazi officers.

I'm now one of about half a million children of Holocaust survivors alive today, who grew up in the shadows of their family's trauma. Many of us second generation (2G) survivors are imbued with “the unbearable lightness of being” (the title of a book by Milan Kundera, set in the Czech Republic), cursed and blessed at the same time, in a perpetual state of mourning for that which we have never known. The truth is, we're all partially meshugener (crazy)! We were raised differently than other children, and like our survivor parents, we carry emotional baggage from the Holocaust.

I have always been a Holocaust junkie, compulsively devouring wartime stories with morbid fascination. As a child, I would relish watching my grandmother cook and bake while telling me her family’s experiences. Her face and emotional expression would become a kaleidoscope of laughter, animation, tears, and despair. Since I was a young artist, I loved how my grandmother figuratively painted for me the picture of her amazing history, in intricate detail. I was absolutely riveted; I couldn’t get enough. I knew this information was precious. It was part of who I was and who I would become.

My story includes the following ingredients: what led to the Holocaust, what life was like in Terezín, how survivors and their offspring were personally affected, and what this means to future generations. Of course, the story wouldn't be complete without some personal family melodrama, expressed in poems, recipes, travel notes, and essays.

Now, eighty years after the rise of Hitler, the world is losing its Holocaust survivors. As the survivors are dying off, we must never forget this shocking chapter in world history. Second generation survivors are the only ones left to bear witness for those who can no longer speak for themselves. I feel it is beshert (meant to be, destined) that I try to document, understand, and memorialize my family’s past. The experience has been life-affirming. So, I give you the story of my mother and her family, my own real life heroes and heroines, of which I am so proud. May their history never be forgotten, and may the world never know another Hitler.

Read more: Legacies, Lies and Lullabies: The World of a Second Generation Holocaust Survivor

Rich, Diverse Bounty of the Warwick Valley (6/1-6/8)

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Written by George L. Nitti George L. Nitti

Category: Week in Review Week in Review

This week we had the chance to participate at a kick-off party at Penning’s Farm Market, part of a series of events under the banner of Warwick’s tourism initiative, which is being promoted by the Warwick Valley Chamber of Commerce and its new arm – Discover the Warwick Valley. It was a perfect evening weatherwise with a large turn-out, many of whom are part of Warwick’s business community and many of whom have contributed to support Warwick’s tourism campaign that is currently underway. 

At the event, there were giveaways, raffles, music and merchandise for sale in order to bring awareness and raise revenue for the continued promotion of Warwick as a destination. It was great to see so many familiar faces at this event. It’s about people coming and working together, sharing ideas and giving their support to critical causes that helps keep a community strong.

Keeping Warwick economically vibrant is at the heart of the initiative, a goal which the chamber pursues as part of its mission, which has become more important than ever in rapidly changing economies. Each business in a community serves as a critical link. When we begin to lose those links, like employees from a dismantled prison, or from technological shifts in society or corporate downsizing or a declining main st. – all of these components add up to weaken the general community.

Warwick is taking action to fill that vacuum through its leadership, business partnerships, community wide organizations, and active citizenry - who all play a significant role in creating a stronger Warwick. The rise of a tourism industry, with sustainable development at its core, is one path to economic development which Warwick has embraced thanks to the multi-faceted partnerships within the community at large.

It was fitting that the event be held at Pennings, a business which has proved to be one of the innovators and leaders in the community in terms of promoting local culture, values and business through their various enterprises. More than just an apple orchard, they have reinvented themselves, promoting both tourism and the local populace to participate and support their local culture.

It’s great to live in a place where we are not just part of a tourist culture, but one in which we can lose ourselves and the outside world somewhere in the vast expanse of what makes up the rich, diverse bounty of the Warwick Valley.

To see more pics of the event, click here to go to our Facebook page.