Art And Soul of the Catskills Arrives July 31 and August 1

DELHI, NY (07/13/2010)(readMedia)-- Main streets and town squares offer events all summer long from farmers markets to community pride parades to town wide yard sales. Delhi, the county seat of Delaware County, decided to create an event to focus on its regional creative talent – from artists to musicians to writers – all of whom are inspired by the beauty that lies before them every day. Three years ago Art and Soul of the Catskills made its debut bringing out over 2,000 people to enjoy a summer weekend in the heart of the western Catskills.

Visual artists, writers and poets, and musicians will be on hand to talk about their creative lives and work. Below are the participating writers and the musical schedule for the weekend. More detailed information on all the participating artists, writers and musicians can be found on their website www.artandsoulofthecatskills.com.

Music On Main Street

Delhi's courthouse square has a gazebo which doubles as a stage for performers. So come rain or shine there will be music echoing throughout the square and up and down main street. Entertainment for the kids will intersperse the day, but young and old alike will have their feet tapping. Here's a round-up of the performers for the weekend:

Saturday, July 31st

• 11 am - 11:45 am "John Scarpulla" - Blues and Rock from Schoharie County performed in a soulful and heartfelt style that tells his story.
• 12:15 pm - 1:00 pm "Uncle Rock" - Kids Rock and Pop band from Ulster County whose music connects with preschoolers and the "little kid" in all of us.
• 1:30 pm to 2:15 pm "Esquela" – This local band with roots in Bovina and Delhi will feature their Blues and Rock style music – sure to get you up and dancing.
• 2:45 pm to 3:30 pm "Ira and Laurie McIntosh" - Folk musicians whose performances offer lively, participatory programs of traditional tunes, fantastic fables, magical myths, silly songs and more.
• 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm "The Blues Maneuvers" - Their eclectic repertoire spans today's music to the 1940's. From Motown, Classic R & B, Oldies and Swing.

Sunday, August 1st

• 11:15 to 12:00pm "Stoddard Hollow Sting Band" - Folk and Bluegrass Band.
• 12:30 pm to 1:15pm "Skip West" - Pop, Rock and Folk tunes geared toward preschool kids sure to keep them entertained.
• 1:45pm to 2:45pm "Just Throw Money" - From Van Morrison to Willie Nelson, this band has a great repertoire of classic music.
• 3:00pm to 4:00 pm "Horse Shoe Lounge Playboys" - Bluegrass, Folk, Rock band.

Music scheduling prepared by "Millennia Entertainment."

Creativity in the Mountains

The Catskills have always been a haven for artisans of all medium. The artists exhibiting at the festival each bring their own vision to their work, all inspired by the beauty and tranquility of the mountains. They include:

• Helen Fuschetto, Jewelry, Mt Vision
• David Geer, Painting - Unadilla
• Barbara Mellon Kolb, Mixed Media, Mosaics - Fleischmanns
• Michael Musanti, Photography - Deposit
• Carolyn Neidlinger, Water Colors - Bainbridge
• Kristen Neidlinger, Jewelry - Bainbridge
• Rhonda Harrow, handmade pottery - Delhi

Making Words Come Alive

Bertha Rogers, the poet laureate of Delaware County and leading force behind the Bright Hill Press in Treadwell, has been leading the organizations efforts to attract quality regional writers to the festival. Here is a round-up of the writers who will be reading from their works throughout the day.

Saturday, July 31st - Times to be announced

• Ron De Luca, Hancock, Writer – Ron focuses his writing on personal stories and rememberances of life, love and death. His story, "Stone Man Willy," was published in The Second Word Thursdays Anthology (Bright Hill Press) and subsequently republished by Stockport Press with four other stories.
• Uri Shulevitz, Treadwell, Children's Book Author and Illustrator – Uri ahs illustrated more than 40 children's books, out of which, he has written more than a dozen. Among his awards and honors are: A Caldecott Medal, 3 Caldecott Honors, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
• Bertha Rogers, Delhi, Poet - published more than 300 poems and reviews in journals and anthologies, and in several collections. Her translation of Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon epic poem, was published in 2000 (Birch Brook Press, NY), and her translation of the riddle-poems from the Anglo-Saxon Exeter Book, Uncommon Creatures, Singing Things, will be published in 2010 (Birch Brook Press, NY). In 2010, her poem sequence, "Three for Summer's End," was selected by the MacDowell Colony/Monadnock Music Festival for an original composition by composer Jamie Keesecker and performance at the festival.
• Share the Words High School Poets - Names to be Announced

Sunday, August 1st - Times to be Announced

• Mermer Blakeslee, Roscoe (Delaware County), Writer - published two novels, Same Blood (Houghton Mifflin, 1989) and In Dark Water (Ballantine, 1998). In Dark Water, called by Connie May Fowler "a novel of uncommon grace and soaring beauty," was selected by Barnes and Noble for its Discover Great New Writers series. "Blakeslee's world," the San Francisco Chronicle state, "is lyrical and mythic, filled with magic, visions and reams."
• Susan King, Walton, Writer - published her work in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Bennington Banner.
• John Paul O'Connor, Franklin, Poet - published his poems in numerous literary magazines, including Poet Lore, Silk Road, Indian Review, Cold Mountain Review, Rattle, Baltimore Review, Columbia, Sycamore Review and St. Anne's Review. His poems have won him AWP's Prague Prize and two nominations for a Pushcart.
• Lisa Wujnovich, Hancock, Poet - She writes poetry and farms at Mountain Dell Farm in Hancock, and is an herbalist, theater artisit, and community activist, as well as a poet. Her Poetry book, This Place Called Us, with photos of Mark Dunau, and High Watermark Saloon, Volume 1, Number 6, both published by Stockport Flats, feature poems about twenty years of life on her family farm.

You can read more about the visual artists participating in the event on their website www.artandsoulofthecatskills.com. There will be food stands at the festival to keep you refreshed and energized while you stroll the displays and dance when the music moves you. Additionally local company Slickepott, who makes an unbelievably good Chocolate Fudge Sauce, will have a booth too!

Great Western Catskills Tourism

The Great Western Catskills is an easy day trip from Albany, Kingston or Binghamton and has a summer calendar packed full of events for families, adverturers, main street strollers and back road drivers. To learn more about our great events going on in the western Catskills, log on to: www.greatwesterncatskills.com. For free travel literature like our fishing map and antique and art gallery directory can be mailed out to you - call toll-free: (866) 775-4425 or e-mail: info@greatwesterncatskills.com.