CRYSTAL SPRINGS

Come on in and take a seat for another edition of Catskill Crew. After thousands miles on the open road and a slew of car problems, my trout wagon, dog and I arrive back in the Catskills this evening. Couldn’t be more excited for the dropping temps and getting the wood stove fired up as we prepare for Mother Nature’s next chapter. Hope you enjoy the read, and as always, see ya out there.

THE PEOPLE HAVE SPOKEN ONCE MORE! The proposal for the Catskill Crew Quarterly vote has passed with a 94% approval.

The plans are in motion as I begin to bring the Quarterly to life. Local artists and contributors have been brought on, paper samples have been ordered, and ideas are taking shape. I plan to share more over the coming weeks and am excited to create something truly unique for my fellow snail mail aficionados.

P.S. For each Catskill Crew Quarterly that is sent, I will indeed be planting a tree.

Before the Ashokan Reservoir was created to quench New York City’s thirst, the hamlet of Pine Hill, at the base of Belleayre Mountain, supplied drinking water to our downstate neighbors. In the late 1800s, this small town was drawing from its own natural spring and shipping out what it proudly stamped as “Pure Mountain Spring Water.”

For decades the water was bottled in five-pint glass bottles with porcelain stoppers and in heavyweight five-gallon carboys. The product was then packed into wooden crates, loaded onto the Ulster & Delaware railroad at the Pine Hill station, and shipped down to New York City — reportedly even making it to Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall.

At its height, the company employed around twenty workers and shipped six to nine train carloads every week. For a mountain hamlet of a few hundred people, that was no small feat — it was industry on a scale large enough to define the town’s reputation.

Then, on a fateful day in February of 1933, an explosion ripped through the bottling works, igniting a fire that burned the plant to the ground. Fourteen volunteer firemen were overcome by smoke and fumes as they battled the blaze. The company never rebuilt. In less than a day, Pine Hill lost the business that had once made it famous beyond the mountains. And two decades later, as passenger service on the U&D sputtered out and the Pine Hill station was demolished, the infrastructure that once carried that water to the city disappeared as well.

Today Pine Hill’s municipal system still draws from a natural spring near the old treatment plant. The company’s heavy glass bottles still turn up at auctions and in barns, relics of an industry that has come and gone. What Pine Hill once shipped out by the trainload survives only in glass and memory, but the spring itself still flows through the town.

As the annual fly fishing road trip comes to completion (just 11 more hours to go), I added a few more of my favorite photographs to the site. Feel free to take a gander.

Meadowlark Festival — A three-day music festival September 12-14th at Stone Ridge Orchard that benefits Hudson Valley farmers — features Sunflower Bean, Haley Heynderickx, Cut Worms, River Whyless, Willi Carlisle, and more. The stage is a 1940s travel trailer situated under a centuries-old oak tree on a heritage apple orchard. For a limited time use discount code CATSKILLCREW for 15% off tickets. Click here to learn more and get tickets.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts — On August 29th, the Black Keys are bringing heavy grooves and fuzzed-out riffs to the Pavilion stage along with special guest Gary Clark Jr. Camping is available so make a weekend of it and stick around for the the Heart show the following day, with Todd Rundgren opening, and the Harvest Festival which opens for the season on Sunday. Get your tickets.

Hart’s Upstate was created to share the best of made and grown goods from the Hudson Valley. Seasonally minded, they work with the region’s top farms and makers to gather our area's finest food products and deliver them to your door. Order the Gather Box for a light meal alfresco or the Breakfast Box for a lazy Saturday morning over pancakes & eggs. Catskill Crew Members get free Delivery with CATSKILLCREW. Stock up before for Labor Day Weekend here.

Adopt Pets: The holy trinity with Lucifer the Morkie, Moonlight the cat, and Kenny Rogers the Nigerian Dwarf Goat

Property of the Week: The Eggs Nest

The Sky Report: On August 26, asteroid Hebe reaches opposition, when Earth passes directly between it and the Sun, making it visible all night. Hebe is one of the densest objects in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, thought to be the parent body of the H chondrite meteorites that make up nearly 40% of those that fall to Earth. At magnitude +7.5, it’s just bright enough to glimpse through binoculars as a tiny point of light in Aquarius.

Sunrise 6:16 AM
Sunset 7:39 PM
Fire Danger [low]
Air Quality [good]
Moon Phase [waxing crescent]

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Catskill Center, Claryville - Hike for the Catskills: Guided Hike to Red Hill Fire Tower at 10am get going

Salt Box, Kingston - Queer Kingston with Meatwagon and Conni’s Ice Cream at 6pm have fun

Tubby's, Kingston - Romperayo and Dj Bongohead at 7pm nice

Space 428, Hudson - The Hudson Eye presents RAWdance's Pairings at 7:30pm dance

Orpheum Theatre, Saugerties - The Alabama Solution with Q&A from Directors & Producers Andrew Jarecki & Charlotte Kaufman at 7:15pm take a look

Sullivan County Golf Club, Liberty - 100th Anniversary Wednesday and Thursday bill murray will be there

Catskill Center, Mt. Tremper - Catskills Nature Explorers: Become a Junior Steward at 10:30am for the kiddos

The Pines, Mt. Tremper - Music Night with El Aris at 7pm

Rough Draft, Kingston - Game Night at the Communal Table at 5:30pm sweet

Tubby's, Kingston - Music Gear Swap at 5pm

Seminary Hill, Callicoon - Pollinator Spirits Cocktail Making Class and Line Dancing at 6pm rip it up

Maritime Museum, Kingston - Solaris River boat cruise with Andrea Maddox and live music with the Hey Y’alls at 6pm all aboard

Avalon Lounge, Catskill - Wave Farm Presents: Breaking the Algorithm IRL (upstairs lounge) at 7pm details and Atabeya / Pocket Merchant at 8pm take a look

Lost Book Shop, Delhi - Workshop: Let's Make Books About Cows at 6pm read more books

The Hereafter, Hudson - BBQ and Blues at 4pm they make a great martini

Tinker Street Cinema, Woodstock - The Outsiders at 7pm movie night

Wayside Cider, Andes - Fish Disco Returns at 5pm montauk catch club

Phoenicia Playhouse, Phoenicia - Film Screening of "The Long Path: A Journey of Becoming" at 7pm this is going to be good explore more of the Phoenicia Festival of the Arts here

HITS-On-The-Hudson, Saugerties - Horseback Riding Children’s Charity Classic at 5pm giddy up

Mavericks, Woodstock - Benefit for Maverick Concert Hall with Marco Benevento and Dave Dreiwitz at 8pm good stuff

Glen Falls House, Round Top - Chasing Waterfalls Labor Day Weekend details

Stable Gate Winery, Castleton-on-the-Hudson - Unhinged Speed Dating at 5pm go meet someone

Avalon Lounge, Catskill - Dromfest '25 - a celebration of indie music at 7pm all weekend long

West Kortright Center, East Meredith - Glen David Andrew at 7pm more trombone

Bearsville Theatre, Woodstock - NYC Ska Orchestra at 7pm even more trombone

Levon Helm Studios, Woodstock - Live performance with Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel at 8pm nice

Park Theatre, Hudson - The Proposal & The Bear: Two one-act comedies by Anton Chekhov at 8pm go see two plays

Skate Time, Accord - August Adult Skate with DJ Lemondade at 8pm heck yeah

Tinker Street Tavern, Woodstock - Drum Circle with Malick at 3pm circle up

Unicorn Bar, Kingston - Speed Friending at 7pm make friends

The Starlite Motel, Kerhonkson - Catskill Cocktail Club at 5pm oh yeah baby

Wild Hudson Valley, Cairo - Dive into the Past: Late Summer Nature Walk at 10am
forest wetlands and meadows

Barnes & Noble, Kingston - Immigrant Hearts at 1pm local authors

ArtPort Kingston, Kingston - Community Concert: Spaghetti Western Music at 4pm looks cool

Catskills Junction, Stamford - 12th Annual Mt. Utsayantha Fire Tower lighting at 8:30pm love it

Ralph’s Bar and Bowling, Big Indian - Live music by Lace Card, Aubrey Haddard, Shabbat, and B. Trimble, with wood-fired pizza and ice cold beer at 6pm alright alright alright

Tinker Street Tavern, Woodstock - Labor Day Weekend Honky Tonk & Vintage Market featuring Roberta Faceplant at 12pm good stuff

Station Bar & Curio, Woodstock - Vinyl sale and drinks from 12-5pm

Scribner's, Hunter - Memorial Day Weekend Festivities learn more

Two Farms Brewing, Bloomingburg - Lady Evil: Tribute to Dio, Ozzy & Sabbath at 7pm crazy train

Bark Gallery, Bovina - The Cooler "25th Anniversary of Closing Show" at 12pm more info

Ravenwood, Kerhonkson - Labor Day Weekend BBQ at 11am eat more bbq

Bearsville Theatre, Woodstock - Feat Fest 2025: Little Feat and Friends (all weekend long) tickets

Cochecton Center, Narrowsburg - DVAA’s Summer Garden Party at 4pm dig it

Bad Goods Vintage, Barryville - End of Summer Flea at 10am to 3pm (until August 31st) buy something new thats old

The Rosendale Theatre, Rosendale - Rocky Horror Picture Show at 9pm the people love it

The Outside Institute, Barryville - Flora, Fungi and Foraging Walk at 10am to 12pm learn stuff

Tubby's, Kingston - Benefit for Shandaken Skatepark with Düül Suns, The Joan Anderson Letters, and DJ Top Rank Tyler at 5pm my first board was an element featherlight, are those still around

Delaware and Ulster Railroad, Arkville - Evening Express with distillery tasting at 5:30pm full throttle

Unicorn Bar, Kingston - Bad Bunny Dance Party at 7pm details

Saugerties Farmers Market, Saugerties - Farm Animal Day at 10am pony rides

Jane St. Art Center, Saugerties - Burlesque Drawing Café with Tryst La Noir at 1pm create more things

The Rosendale Theatre, Rosendale - Day Jobs, Side Hustles and Night Gigs: The Labor Day Plays at 7pm celebrate workers

Van Dusen’s, Lexington - Mountaintop Record Fair and After Party at 10am-4pm vinyl

Tinker Street Tavern, Woodstock - Woodstock Backgammon Club at 1am by the people

Mountain Top Arboretum, Tannersville - Annual Author Talk with William Bryant Logan at 5pm great author

Monument, Kingston - End of Summer Community Picnic at 5pm bike ride

Night School, Athens - Trivia at 6:30pm

Hudson, Saugerties, Kingston, Poughkeepsie - Flotsam River Circus at 6pm musicians, circus performers, and puppeteers