Published: July 11, 2009 12:00 am      

Catskill Center marks its 40th

The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development will mark its founding 40 years ago with a celebration on Saturday, July 18, at the Delaware & Ulster Railroad Park in Arkville.

The annual membership meeting and festival will take place from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., where everyone will find something to celebrate in the heart of the Catskill Mountain region from raptors to fly-fishing lessons and a ride on the Rip Van Winkle Flyer.

According to a media release, in recognition of its four decades of service in the Catskill Mountain Region, the Catskill Center will be bestowing its Alf Evers Award for Excellence on four Catskills businesses that contribute to the local economy, serve as sustainable business models and provide cultural opportunities to local residents and visitors: Apple Pond Farm and Renewable Energy Center, The Belleayre Conservatory, Merrick Tackle and Catskill Craftsman.

Headlining the festival is Grammy-nominated, kid-friendly Trout Fishing in America, followed by traditional hometown mountain music from The Tremperskill Boys.

Dave Turan, Catskill Center spokesman, said it was decided to make the celebration appeal to children and, coincidentally, Trout Fishing in America was scheduled to be in the vicinity.

Turan said Trout Fishing in America is a well-known duo that performs adult and children's music. The duo's name is a reference to a Richard Brautigan novel.

The event also features Professor Robert Titus' Antiques Rock Show, where the professor will help identify the age and type of any Catskill rock brought to the festival by children and adults. Titus said but he limits the rocks to those originating in the Catskill region, and he doesn't identify gemstones, Turan said.

"We invite the public to join us as we celebrate the Catskill Center's origins," Lisa Rainwater, Catskill Center executive director, said in a media release. "Since 1969, we have been working to reverse centuries of environmental degradation and decades of economic decline.

"The Catskill Center prides itself on being the first regional organization to have understood that the needs of people and nature are not mutually exclusive," Rainwater said. "Today, we call it sustainability. Forty years ago, we called it the Catskill Center."

Turan said in keeping with the sustainability theme, there will be local water available for people to drink out of biodegradable cups made out of corn. Valley Mountain Spring Water will provide the water.

Storyteller Teri Schlobohm will tell tales to the children, and afterward, they can be decorated with their favorite Catskills critter at the face-painting booth.

The Mount Breeze Minis from Grand Gorge will have mini horses, donkeys, goats, chickens and rabbits at the petting zoo, where there will also be birds of prey from the Catskill region.

Train buffs can ride Arkville's Rip Van Winkle Flyer at 2 p.m. for a scenic two-hour round trip train ride to Roxbury. Space is limited, so early reservations are recommended.

Chef and proprietor John Novi of the Depuy Canal House is celebrating the combined 40th anniversary of his restaurant and the center by offering a special dinner for those who present their souvenir railroad ticket stub.

Entertainment and activities are free and open to the public. Tickets for a home-cooked picnic lunch are $12 for adults and $10 for youth.

Special-event train tickets are $10 for adult and $5 for youth.

Reservations are encouraged.

For more information call 845-586-2611, ext 103, or membership@catskillcenter.org. For a full schedule of events, visit www.catskillcenter.org.