About The Event:

Would you like to know what trees you’re hiking by and living with? Join Marc Wolf for a tree identification walk at Woodchuck Lodge. We will focus on characteristics of leaves, buds, bark and growth habits of trees native to the Catskills. We’ll also discuss what trees might be growing where, based on site conditions and forest disturbance.

About The Guide:

Marc is former Director of Horticulture and Environmental Stewardship at Mountain Top Arboretum, is on the Board of Flying Trillium Gardens and Preserve and was named a “Steward of the Catskills” by the Catskill Center.

About The Event:

Canals were vitally important to the State of New York in the 19th century era of "Canal Fever". There were really only two, but the impact of both reached beyond the state's borders to affect the history of the entire nation. Join D&H Canal Historian Bill Merchant for an illustrated look at the story of these important waterways and the effect they had on America.

About The Speaker:

Bill Merchant is the Deputy Director for Collections, Historian and Curator of the D&H Canal Historical Society and President of the D&H Transportation Heritage Council. He is a member of the Ulster County Arts and Culture Advisory Council, Chair of the Marbletown Historic Preservation Commission, and on the Ulster County Commission to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War. He recently led the field survey for the current update to the D&H Canal’s National Historic Register listing and is the main contributing historian for its narrative history and inventory of extant features. He is currently writing both a new history of the D&H Canal and Gravity Railroad and a guide book to its many extant features. In 2023, the Museum Association of New York awarded him their Individual Achievement Award for his work at the new D&H Canal Museum.

About The Event:

Join us at John Burroughs Woodchuck Lodge to watch the Catskill Forest Association mill several black cherry logs using a bandsaw mill. Afterward,  get a tour of this famous house where guests such as Henry Ford and Thomas Edison were entertained. This was the summer house of world famous Catskill Naturalist John Burroughs. You can bring a lunch, eat it on the porch or the picnic table, and take a hike on one of the many trails. Some unique woodwork items will be for sale. Some refreshments provided

About The Presenter:

Zane Lawyer, CFA's Program Manager, will be flat sawing black cherry logs and answering any questions folks have about the process. Black cherry heartwood contains a unique reddish color and grain participants will be able to see and feel first-hand. ***Hearing protection is recommended for watching the sawmill in action.***

About The Event:

Ray LaFever presents the uprising that took place in the 1840s in several areas in New York–including Delaware County. The climax of the war was the killing of Under-Sheriff Osman Steele. Edward O'Connor was one of the two men sentenced to hang for the killing. History, war, murder, punishment, it’s all here. 

About The Speaker:

Ray LaFever has been the Bovina Town Historian since 2004. He worked for 20 years at the New York State Archives, retiring from there in 2010. In 2011 he started working part-time at the Delaware County Historical Association as their archivist. 

Ray’s Bovina History Blog

About The Event & Author:

Tony Musso, a prolific author of eleven books and hundreds of articles, introduces you to “Hidden Treasures of The Catskills.”  You’ll be amazed at the places you have yet to see that are within a short trip. Tony was a featured author on regional history for Gannett Newspapers, and is an entertaining speaker with a large following. 

Event Location:

the Catskill Watershed Corporation - 669 County Road 38, Arkville, NY.

The Author’s website - mussobooks.com

Book page - “Hidden Treasures Of The Catskills”

The book “Hidden Treasures of The Catskills” can be purchased here - mussobooks.com/online-store