Welcome Back!

Glorious Fall by Rachel

Somehow, the past couple of months have positively flown by in a complete blur. I apologize for not having an opportunity to post for a while. I wanted to keep this site out of the election ruckus, but then got incredibly busy with all kinds of things going on in Mountaindale, Hurricane Sandy, wonderful new business developments, and all the community groups I support. I want to thank the many, many readers who still checked in regularly and went back to re-read some of the older postings that are archived on this site.

Some interesting things have been occurring locally.  We congratulate Chef Robert Uccelli of Uccelli Restaurant for reaching a one year anniversary in Mountaindale a few weeks ago. This is an important milestone for a Sullivan County restaurant. We also see a lot of growth in Mountain Charm Market Cafe on the corner, which is filling a big need we had in our community. Please stop in for coffee or lunch if you haven't already done so. Classes have resumed with Janet Gula of Radiant Yoga of Mountaindale. Upstate Karate of Mountaindale enjoyed a few very busy events. Studio owner, Alexandra Lalieu was recently promoted to 5th Dan Master level and celebrated by hosting the annual fall Region 2 Soo Bahk Do Moo Duk Kwan Testing. It was held at the Fallsburg High School and brought between 100 and 200 visitors to the Town of Fallsburg last month. Upstate Karate also held a Buddy Week and it was wonderful to see so many friends and parents participating in classes all week. For anyone who comes to town to visit Evadne Gianinni at HospitalityGreen, she can be found in their new location at 58 Main Street in Mountaindale.

Lastly, please stay tuned for news from Louisa Pabon of Verde & Co, our local sofrito verde manufacturer. She is hoping to re-open the cafe and offer a special pre-order menu, with both single serving and family sized take out portions. I am also trying to convince her to offer some evening cooking classes for some of her special cuisine. The items would include delicious sofrito and might instruct in dishes like empanadas, eggrolls and soups. Please let me know if this would be of interest to you - 845-434-4747, so I can encourage her to schedule this sooner.

I hope you are enjoying the glorious autumn landscape above and to the right by Rachel. She is currently taking a Photography class at the Fallsburg High School with Pam Garritt. Ms Garritt is the wonderful teacher who previously helped Mountaindale build the flower planter boxes as part of a Technology Ed student class assignment. With Rachel's enthusiasm and assistance, we will be updating the photos on the blog for the season.

Hummingbird Happiness

Ed Frampton Hummingbird Photo

In the next few months, our area will have a number of visitors known as Leaf Peepers who come to see the spectacular colors of autumn as our trees prepare for winter. However, those who visit Mountaindale now will be in for a very special treat. Our resident ruby throated hummingbirds LOVE their neighborhood, with the numerous hummingbird feeders on Main Street and hummingbird attracting flowers in town,

This month, the 'hummingbird ballet' will particularly delight our Hummingbird Hailers because the immature babies that hatched this summer are now able to seek their own food, and are doing it in droves. Certain feeders in town are especially popular and it's possible to see several feeding simultaneously while others are chirping, hovering and jockeying for position. A deliveryman who was visiting Eddie's Mountaindale Inn was quite impressed recently and remarked that Mountaindale seems to have more hummingbirds than he sees anywhere else on his Mid Hudson route. The other day at Upstate Karate of Mountaindale, a child exclaimed, "I see hummingbirds!" His mother replied, "Yes, Dear," in that mommy way. So I explained that her child REALLY was seeing hummingbirds so they sat for a bit on the karate school porch to watch the acrobatic antics.

Now that our community has a new business, Mountain Charm Market Cafe & Deli, you can now pick up a delicious cup of steaming coffee or tea, and even a sandwich while you relax and watch the non-stop entertainment provided all day by these ruby throated jewels. The cafe also offers free WiFi to customers so you can even enjoy nature outside while you work comfortably on your laptop. We hope to see you in town to enjoy our wonderful hummingbirds before they start their big trip down South in early October. Then you can come back and enjoy our fall foliage,