Warwick Valley Living - Premier online magazine, featuring local events, stories and advertising in Warwick, NY, Orange County, NY and beyond...

Feature Stories

Trailer for the upcoming ESPN Film "Pat XO"which will

premiere at the 2013 TriBeCa Film Festival.

Audio production is by Warwick resident Dave Smith..

Week in Review

Creative Play in Nature (5/11-5/18)

Last weekend I trampsed around the estate of the Seligmann Homestead as part of an event called Family Nature Play led by instructor Daniel Mack and then spent the better part of the class time looking at creativity while sharing some of what I found with a small group of intrepid souls, including a couple of children. The idyllic Homestead, located in Sugar Loaf, NY was once the estate of the famed artist Kurt Seligmann, and is now a center for Surrealism, a host of cultural activities, the...

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The Spirit of Gardening Centers (5/4-5/11)

Over the past few weeks I've been watching the latest developments at various garden centers throughout the region and have been working to get into that spirit. To some extent, they have all been grappling with a mix of weather as their seasonal supplies of plants arrive to the marketplace. Last week I noted an explosion of new plants and supplies and was happy to take some photos of new growth. Plants tend to be very photogenic, especially if they are tended well. I wonder what drives...

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A Desire for Art (4/26-5/3)

As a writer with an artist’s bent, I know what it is to have a desire for art. For me, it brings together the sum total of my being. Sometimes it’s about skewing ordinary reality into another vision; sometimes it’s about capturing a great moment in time; as a writer it’s about sculpting an idea into a completed form, with all of the pieces working together to resonate with truth. Not only does art satisfy my desire for self-expression, it fulfills my need to bring order upon experience. Art...

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The World is Wide Open (4/19-4/26)

Last Sunday afternoon at the Breezy Point Inn, I had the pleasure of going to a Fashion Show that featured some of the clothing of the Depot and The Style Counsel (See our photo album on FB). I had gotten a last minute email by Mark Levy, owner of the Depot, reminding me of the event, which I failed to put on our events calendar. I felt bad about that. But it’s hard to get it all on our calendar. Living down the road from the Breezy, I thought I would make it up to Mark by stopping in and...

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Gathering Honey From Every Opening Flower (4/13-4/20)

I like to settle into routines. Like most adults, each week I have an idea of what I’d like to get done. Usually it revolves around some routine. Discipline is inculcated at an early age as we learn to do things around schedules, plans and deadlines. April 15 is one such deadline some of us may have encountered this week. A second grade class I taught this week at one of the elementary schools reminded me of this fact – how important routine and structure is to the fabric of our lives. Even at...

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‘Springing’ Out of the Gate (4/5-4/12)

We started our week on a music note, meeting up with friends last Thursday evening at the Dautaj Restaurant in Warwick. Meeting once a month, jazz musicians throughout the Hudson Valley have an opportunity to play amongst each other. It’s fruitful ground for musicians looking to develop their music chops and also makes great entertainment for spectators like us. Top musicians play, reminding us how lucky we are to be amidst high caliber talent right here in Warwick. For more on this new...

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The Food on our Table (3/30-4/5)

Can you eat the delicious looking black dirt and drink the glistening waters of Greenwood Lake? Our neighbor’s boat is already in the water. And the tractors are plowing the fields. Some say you can’t eat the scenery. I say you can. Around the area we go, from Greenwood Lake to Pine Island, from water to black dirt, as far north as the city of Middletown to the denser fringe of Suffern, even as far south as Bergen County. You can bet you will find us somewhere in between. If not we may be on...

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Other Stories

Creative Play in Nature (5/11-5/18)

Last weekend I trampsed around the estate of the Seligmann Homestead as part of an event called Family Nature Play led by instructor Daniel Mack and then spent the better part of the class time looking at creativity while sharing some of what I found with a small group of intrepid souls, including a couple of children. The idyllic Homestead, located in Sugar Loaf, NY was once the estate of the famed artist Kurt Seligmann, and is now a center f...

Letter 6: Never be seduced by dreams of distant success; each day is meant to be lived fruitfully.

As several months passed in Staten Island, I was working steadily as a waiter at a Café at Bergdorf Goodman in NYC, studying acting at the William Esper Studio, auditioning for anything I could find in the actor’s trade publication called Backstage, and trying unsuccessfully to get an agent. And I was doing all of those other creative things that I mentioned. Yet, I was dissatisfied, seeking and searching for greater success, not content ...

The Spirit of Gardening Centers (5/4-5/11)

Over the past few weeks I've been watching the latest developments at various garden centers throughout the region and have been working to get into that spirit. To some extent, they have all been grappling with a mix of weather as their seasonal supplies of plants arrive to the marketplace. Last week I noted an explosion of new plants and supplies and was happy to take some photos of new growth. Plants tend to be very photogenic, especially if t...

The Warwick Yoga Center, under the direction of Rosé Dwyer and Lisbeth Ryan, is proud to announce their grand opening and the introduction of "Club Mani Yoga” on May 18th, from 8 – 4 p.m. There will be FREE classes all weekend: Iyengar, mixed level, partner yoga, chair yoga and Vinyasa . Enjoy yoga to LIVE music, save on class cards, participate in a raffle and indulge in complim...

Letter 5: The Sooner One Becomes Independent, The Better

After the summer at the Hampton Playhouse, returning home was not an option. My father made that clear. “I do not believe, should you be thinking of living at home, that such an arrangement would work. It was tried last year and it was miserable for all. You have been on your own too long to return excepting for short periods. I think you are a big boy now and it is time for you to take on most of the responsibilities.” So that put an end to an...

As a writer with an artist’s bent, I know what it is to have a desire for art. For me, it brings together the sum total of my being. Sometimes it’s about skewing ordinary reality into another vision; sometimes it’s about capturing a great moment in time; as a writer it’s about sculpting an idea into a completed form, with all of the pieces working together to resonate with truth. Not only does art satisfy my desire for self-expression, it fulfil...

MCC Actor Training School: Encouraging Your Inner-Thespian

Friday evening, and you’re eager to leave the weekly 9 to 5 grind behind until Monday. If you’ve ever contemplated acting or have stepped across the stage in your lifetime, why not lose yourself in a character at the MCC Actor Training School? For over two years, I myself have numbered among the members of this class and had a wonderful time doing so. Donna Haley is our ever-enthusiastic director/mentor and gives us the benefi...

Last Sunday afternoon at the Breezy Point Inn, I had the pleasure of going to a Fashion Show that featured some of the clothing of the Depot and The Style Counsel (See our photo album on FB). I had gotten a last minute email by Mark Levy, owner of the Depot, reminding me of the event, which I failed to put on our events calendar. I felt bad about that. But it’s hard to get it all on our calendar. Living down the road from the Breezy, I thought...

There is a buzz in the air as momentum is building once again for another exciting Hudson Valley Jazz Festival to be held August 8th – 11th . Last weekend the organization held a fundraiser at the Seligmann Center for the Arts, hosted by The Orange County Arts Council with a large audience turning out to enjoy a performance featuring area jazz musicians.Steve Rubin, festival founder and producer said, "It's fantastic to not only hear these grea...