The Journal Summer 2025 by publisher-milfordjournal

JEFF ARCH

ISHAY RIBO with Avraham Fried, Zusha & Shmuel AUG 7

JOHN MULANEY with Fred Armisen, Mike Birbiglia & Nick Kroll AUG 8 +LIVE+ & COLLECTIVE SOUL with Our Lady Peace & Greylin James Rue AUG 2

SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO AUG 17 THE OFFSPRING with Jimmy Eat World & New Found Glory AUG 1 AUG 3

BRET MICHAELS & VINCE NEIL with Stephen Pearcy

DIERKS BENTLEY with Zack Top & The Band Loula AUG 16 AUG 18

JONAS BROTHERS with Boys Like Girls

BONNIE RAITT with Jimmie Vaughan & The Tilt-A-Whirl Band AUG 22 neil young and the chrome hearts AUG 24

THE BLACK KEYS with Gary Clark Jr.

HEART with special guest to be announced AUG 30 AUG 29

TYLER HUBBARD with Brandon Wisham

Edith Wharton Quote

Toni Morrison Quote

Henri Matisse Quote

Publisher & Editor

Amy Bridge publisher@milfordjournal.com

Screenwriter and author Jeff Arch will be a headliner at the Milford Readers and Writers Festival on September 13th.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Arch

Graphic Design

Maureen Taylor

Susan Mednick susanmed2@optonline.net

The

Journalists

Alison Porter • Will Voelkel

Lisa K. Winkler • Andy Martin Eric Francis

Associate Editor

B’Ann Bowman

Advertising Team

Amy Bridge amy@milfordjournal.com

Kimberly Hess kimberlyhess212@gmail.com

The tri-state upper Delaware River highlands and valleys are a place of rare beauty…

Seeing the region and living in it almost aren’t enough. Such beauty should be captured on canvas or film so that one can truly appreciate it, glimpse it in the quiet of an art gallery or museum, or between the pages of a poetry book or literary sketch.

The Journal Group’s mission is to capture these momentary snapshots of beauty graphically and through the written word. We celebrate our area and the uniqueness of the people who live and work in the tri-state region. From Pike to Wayne and Monroe to Lackawanna Counties in Pennsylvania, upriver to Sullivan County and on to Orange County in New York, and to the headwaters of the Wallkill River and

Mission

Editorial Readers

Robert Bowman Amy Smith

David Dangler dangler908@yahoo.com

The Poet

Maureen Newman

along Warren and Sussex Counties’ rolling hills in New Jersey, with quaint, historic towns and hamlets at the center, the Journal Group opens its doors to our communities, businesses and organizations, to serve as a communicative journal of all that we have to offer for those who live here and for those who love to visit us, too.

Publication Information

The Journal Group publishes The Journal ten times a year and distributes it in eight counties in PA, NJ and NY. We assume no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission. We reserve the right to refuse to print advertisements that we deem inappropriate. All rights reserved.

Marianne Solivan.

Photo by Adrian H. Tillman

A Spiritual Story

Shortly after joining the Grey Towers Heritage Association Board of Directors earlier this year, I jumped at the chance to co-host a new event, “Spiritualism at Grey Towers” because of my lifelong interest in spiritualism and the supernatural. I discovered the real story at Grey Towers focuses on romantic love—in the afterlife.

Mary and James Pinchot built Grey Towers, their ancestral home, in Milford, PA, in 1886. Their son Gifford was a two-term governor, first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and is considered the father of American conservation.

The American story of spiritualism begins in the Finger Lakes region of New York with a belief in the oneness of God, the afterlife, and the importance of living a good life via spiritual growth and dedication to community. It had a profound effect on Gifford’s commitment to public service and conservation.

This form of spiritualism, to which Gifford adhered, also posits that people may maintain a connection with the dead. His diary writings over a twenty-year period indi-

cate that he connected regularly with Laura Houghteling after her death from tuberculosis, shortly after they were engaged to be married in their early twenties. His diary includes entries such as, “Tonight my dearest spoke to me saying she wants to be with me as much as I want to be with her” and “I was blessed with a wonderful nearness of my dearest on the train to Frankfort.” Gifford never visited her grave and never grieved Laura because, it can be surmised, she was with him for those twenty years—or perhaps always.

If you’d like to discover more about the origins of spiritualism, Gifford Pinchot’s diary and his afterlife relationship with Laura, how Gifford reconciled his relationship with Laura with his later marriage to Cornelia Bryce, and the significance of the contents of a blue Tiffany box, Rev. Darrell Berger, M.Div., will present the spiritualism story on September 6th at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Grey Towers in Milford. For information and tickets, visit www.grey towers.org/events. Tickets are free for GTHA members.

Guest Entry—Will Voelkel

Photo courtesy of Grey Towers Heritage Association

Angels

Angels high, angels low

For those that departed long ago

For those that are still here on earth

Abundantly blessing all since birth.

With fluttering wings, halos, and radiant light Angels are beautiful and such a heavenly sight,

Protectors and spirits of divine intervention

Celestial beings that are beyond comprehension,

Guardian angels always journey with you

No matter what we find ourselves going through,

There are angels among us every single day Stop and take the time to see them along the way,

Representing purity and innocence throughout eternity Angels will always be a symbol of perfect harmony.

-Maureen Newman

Around the Towns

Summer

August

Get Outdoors. Hikes in the Poconos. Sponsored by the Brodhead Watershed Association. See brodheadwatershed.org/Get Outdoors for descriptions of dozens of Do It Yourself hikes and resources.

Color Our World. Ellenville Public Library, Ellenville, NY. Summer Reading Program. For kids 5–11, teens 11–18 and adults 18+. Info: 845.647.5530.

August 1st–9th

10 a.m.–11 p.m.

Wayne County Fair. Honesdale, PA. Rides, animals, food, shows. Info: 570.253.2942, waynecountyfair.com.

Weekdays Noon–10 p.m. Weekends 10 a.m.–10 p.m.

New Jersey State Fair & Sussex County Farm & Horse Show. New Jersey State Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ. Info: 973.948.5500, www.sus sexcountyfairgrounds.org

August 2nd

Saturday Noon–6 p.m.

Sugar Loaf Beer & Wine Festival, Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center, Chester, NY. Tastings, food trucks, artisan vendors, live music & more. Info: 845.469.7000 x3, www.sugar loafpacnycom.

6 p.m.

Wildflower Music Concert Series: Zeppelin Reimagined.. Dorflinger-Suydam Wildlife Sanctuary, White Mills, PA. Outdoor festival. $15–$30. Also August 9th & 16th Info: 570.253.1185, dorflinger.org.

6–9 p.m.

Farm to Plate Dinner. Watres Lodge, Lacawac Sanctuary, Lake Ariel, PA. Live music, locally sourced menu, auctions. Benefits Lacawac mission to protect the natural environment. $95. Info: 570.689.9494, www.lacawac.org.

7 p.m.

Mozart’s Don Giovanni. Delaware Valley Opera Center, Lake Huntington, NY. Presented by the Delaware Valley Opera. $35. Also August 3rd, 9th & 10th. Info: 845.887.3083, delawarevalleyopera.org.

August 6th

Wednesday 6–9 p.m.

Farm to Table Dinner. The Barn at Perona Farms, Andover, NJ. $350. Supports the Patriots Path Council, Boy Scouts of America. Info: 973.765.9322, ppcbsa.org.

August 9th

Saturday 8 a.m.–3 p.m.

Flea Market. Dingman Township Volunteer Fire Department, Milford, PA. Benefits the fire department. Info: 570.872.1547.

Noon–5 p.m.

Food Truck Festival. Ann Street Park, Milford, PA. Includes beer, wine & live music. Hosted by Milford Presents. Info: www.milfordpa.us

6–8 p.m.

Home Again. Harmony in the Woods, Hawley, PA. Tribute to music of Carole King. Benefits the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. $45. Info: 570.503.6685, www.harmonyin thewoods.org.

7–9 p.m.

A Concert Under the Stars. Connor Green, Sussex County Community College, Newton, NJ. The Great American Soulbook: Motown, R&B, and Soul. Info: www.new tontownhall.com, Facebook: Newton, NJ.

August 9th–10th

Saturday–Sunday 10 a.m.

Civil War Encampment. Akenac Park, Dingmans Ferry, PA. Living history event including infantry troops and cavalry, musket & cannon fire, drilling, food tent. Hosted by Dingmans Ferry Delaware Township Historical Society. Info: www.dingmansferryhistor icalsociety.org.

August 10th

Sunday 9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Bagel Festival. Broadway, Monticello, NY. Food, music, crafts, car show. Hosted by Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce. Info: 845.791.4200, thebagelfestival.org.

1–4 p.m.

Ice Cream Social and Free Summer Concert. Grey Towers, Milford, PA. Celebrate Gifford Pinchot’s birthday and enjoy music by the House of Hamill. Hosted by Kindred Spirits Arts Programs and Grey Towers Heritage Association. Info: 570.296.9625, greytowers. org.

August 12th

Tuesday 6–9 p.m.

Black Dirt Feast. Social Island, Goshen, NY. $150. Features dishes by award-winning local chefs. Hosted by the Pine Island Chamber of Commerce. Benefits scholarships and local food pantries. Info: 845.258.1469, www.pineislandny.com

8 p.m.

Sunset Concert Series: Czech Bohemio Trio. Sunset Concert Pavilion, Livingston Manor, NY. $10–$35. Presented by the Shandelee Music Festival. Info & other dates: 845.439.3277, www.shandelee.org

August 15th–17th

Friday-Sunday

Solving Problems from the Inside Out. Kadampa Meditation Center, Glen Spey, NY. Nature walks, games, dance & more. Experience periods of silence and contemplation. $60. Info: 845.856.9000, kadampanewyork.org.

August 16th

Saturday 1–9 p.m.

Fuller Moon Arts Festival. Mountain Lake Park, Warwick, NY. Interactive art displays, live music, dance performances, artisans’ market, food trucks. $15–$20. Presented by Wickham Works and the Warwick Center for the Performing Arts. Info: fuller moonartsfest.com

1–3 p.m.

Artful Bears Debut. Community House, Milford, PA. Free. Meet the bears; enjoy music. Info: 570.832.4858, www.BlackBearFilm Festival.org.

1–6 p.m.

Tunes along the Towpath: Let the Good Vibes Roll. Glen Eyre Farms, Hawley, PA. Featuring the Peach Project and Reverend Jefferson.$25. Proceeds benefit Pike County Historical Society. Info: 570.296.8126, www. pikehistorical.org/events.

2–9 p.m.

Tractor Parade. Fire House, Sandyston Township, NJ. Great food, raffles. Bring your lawn chairs. Benefits Sandyston Township Volunteer Fire Department. Info: 973.948.3520, sandystontownship.com.

5:30 p.m.

Marianne Solivan Quartet. Grey Towers, Milford, PA. $25. American jazz. Hosted by Kindred Spirits Arts Programs. Info: 570.776.3933, kindredspiritsarts.org.

6–8 p.m.

Farm to Table Dinner. PEEC, Dingmans Ferry, PA. Features local produce. $45. Info: 570.828.2319, peec.org.

August 17th

Sunday 2–4 p.m.

Music in the Park: The Outcrops. Ann Street Park, Milford, PA. Rock, blues & soul. Presented by Milford Borough Parks and Recreation. Info: Facebook: Milford PA Music in the Park.

August 22nd–24th

Friday–Sunday

Wally Lake Fest. Lake Wallenpaupack, Hawley, PA. Sailboat rides, bike ride, crafts, music, beer fest & more. Info: 570.226.3191, www.northernpoconos.org.

August 23rd–24th

Saturday–Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m.

Pocono State Craft Festival. Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm, Stroudsburg, PA. $7. Fine arts & crafts, demonstrations, music. Info: 570.992.6161, www.quietvalley.org.

August 23rd

Saturday 9–11 a.m.

Flower Cut & Design. Willow Wisp Organic Farm, Damascus, PA. Growing & arranging cut flowers. $45. Hosted by Farm Arts Collective. Info: 570.798.9530, www.farm artscollective.org.

Noon–5 p.m.

Pupstock. Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ. Activities, adoptions, live music, food trucks. $5–$15. Benefits BARKS Animal Rescue & O.S.C.A.R Animal Rescue. Info: www.pupstock.com.

August 24th

Sunday Noon–4 p.m.

Pike County Pride 2025: Bigger, Louder, Prouder. Akenac Park, Dingmans Ferry, PA. Family fun. Entertainment, food, vendors, key note speakers. Hosted by Triversity Center. Info: 570.618.9638, triversitycenter.org.

4–6 p.m.

Opera! Pike! Park! Ann Street Park, Milford, PA. Performances by Academy of Vocal Arts. Free general admission. Presented by Milford Borough’s Parks and Recreation Committee. Info: www.pikeopera.com.

August 28th

Thursday 9 a.m.

Keller Williams Pocono Golf Tournament. Glen Brook Golf Course, Stroudsburg, PA. Full day of golf & community. $100. Benefits Olsen Christmas Wish & KW Cares. Info: 570.421.2890.

1–7 p.m.

Community Blood Drive. Shepherd of the Hill Lutheran Church, Sparta, NJ. To schedule an appointment, call 800.933.2566 or visit donate.nybc.org. Sponsor code is 71131. Info: Kreutter@nybc.org, www.sothnj.org.

August 29th

Friday 6–9 p.m.

Peters Valley Benefit. Zimmermann Farm, Dingmans Ferry, PA. Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, artisan boutiques, art activities, auctions. $125. Benefits Peters Vallely School of Craft. Info: www.petersvalley.org.

August 30th

Saturday10 a.m.–noon

Discovery Walk. Van Scott Nature Reserve, Beach Lake, PA. Relaxed hike, discovering the wonders of the ecosystem. $5–$10. Hosted by the Delaware Highlands Conservancy. Info: 570.226.3164, delawarehighlands.org.

Dr. Sherri Talbot-Valerio

Photos courtesy of Jeff Arch

Sleepless in Pennsylvania

Jeff Arch

Some people are born with a particular passion, a yearned-for destiny, a sense of inevitability in their lives and careers.

Jeff Arch, screenwriter of Sleepless in Seattle and author of the novel Attachments, will be a guest speaker at this year’s Milford Readers & Writers Festival on Saturday, September 13th. He may very well be one of those people.

I interviewed Jeff by phone, from his home office in Malibu, and the sense of fate, destiny, and yearning that mark his creative works also marked our conversation.

“All I wanted to do since I was nine was to make movies,” he explains.

Jeff was raised in a comfortable Jewish community in Harrisburg, PA. At fourteen, he campaigned to be allowed to go to boarding school and then attended Emerson College in Boston, where he learned everything he could about film, TV, and theater production. Next stop, Los Angeles, where he started out as a photographer and then a lighting designer for rock and reggae bands, while teaching himself to write screenplays on the side. His first screenplay sold but didn’t get made; then he wrote four more that didn’t sell.

At that point, he was back East again, married and teaching high school English. He got involved in martial arts training “because I needed it; I was thirty years old, a new father. I took stock of the guy I was becoming, and there

was a lot I didn’t like—body/mind/spirit things—and that’s what the martial arts are all about.” He figured that what it takes to earn a black belt are the same qualities it takes to succeed at anything. In 1986, Jeff opened a martial arts school of his own, not giving up on movies but taking a break.

Then in 1989, he and his wife had their second child, and he knew it was time to get serious. “It was either do this movie thing or stop talking about it.” He sold his business, rented an office a block away from his house, and gave himself one year to write three movies. The second of those movies came from an idea for a love story where the people don’t meet until the very end.

“I remembered seeing An Affair to Remember with a girlfriend in college,” Jeff recalls, “and the effect on her was insane.” And that’s how Sleepless in Seattle came about. The characters meet at the Empire State Building in the very last scene. TriStar bought the script, and Jeff earned his way back West.

The Journal: Tell us about your experience writing multiple screenplays, including Sleepless. What were the ups and downs, and how did you sell Sleepless?

Jeff Arch: The downs are everything you’d expect—tons of uncertainty, resistance from every direction, results that may never come. And the ups are also all the things you’d expect but a lot of things you wouldn’t: alone in a room, solving a story problem, little private moments of

victory—some of the best days I’ve ever had went completely unwitnessed by anyone.

The Journal: What forces or people motivated and influenced you to write?

Jeff Arch: My family was mostly supportive, but they were convinced I couldn’t pull it off. It was as though they were all holding their breath waiting for me to get the message and find out for myself how tough it is. It can be the loneliest thing in the world sometimes, and it sucks. And it’s not like I didn’t believe them; every statistic was on their side. I just believed in myself more. I knew that somehow, I was going to make it happen. I’m big on “somehows.”

The Journal: Nora Ephron directed Sleepless, and she and several other writers were hired to enhance the script and do some rewrites. Why did that happen and how did you feel about it?

Jeff Arch: It happened because it happens in Hollywood. I was a rookie writer on something that looked like it was getting big. I had no illusions that I might get replaced.

Continued on page 16

Jeff on set with actress Meg Ryan while filming

Sleepless in Seattle

Jeff with actor John Cleese

Dan Marino

Dave Barry, and NFL Hall of

And when it happened, I didn’t like it; who would? But I was kept in the loop, and they did bring me back at different times in the development and shooting. Nora delivered bigtime, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan made it huge, and I got the thing I’d wanted since I was a kid: a hit movie. That felt good.

The Journal: Your first and only novel to date, Attachments, tells the story of a headmaster at a boarding school whose dying wish is to reunite with three students from the past. Given your background in boarding school, what inspired the story?

Jeff Arch: The two years I spent at that school were profoundly moving. There was a dean there who had a huge impact on all of us. I had a chance to meet with him and his wife many years later. We had a great day together, and on the way home, the key elements of the story came to me: a love triangle, a betrayal, a teacher, and a kid who runs away. That visit was in 1988. In so many ways, I’ve been living with that story and those characters ever since.

The Journal: Why are readers attracted to Attachments?

Jeff Arch: The book is about friendship, marriage, fathers and sons, loss and grief, and the choices we make as we stumble into adulthood. It’s also about first love, and people who are too young to handle the almost impossibly intense feelings they have. It’s about right turns and wrong ones, and the consequences that come from each. And people seem to appreciate that.

The Journal: You wrote Attachments in a self-described Faulkner-esque style, with different chapters telling the story from different characters’ points of view. Let’s talk about your writing process.

Jeff Arch: Each story tells you how it wants to be told. Some need to be meticulously planned; with others you can be a little looser and leave more room for discovery. With Attachments, I didn’t know anything—I had no idea what was going to happen next, and it was terrifying. But for this one, it was the right approach. If every page was a surprise to me, it would be a surprise for the reader too, and that’s exactly what this piece needed. As for Faulkner, that wasn’t me. Back in high school, a friend wrote a short story using alternating voices, and it stuck with me.

The Journal: What can attendees at the Readers & Writers Festival look forward to during John DiLeo’s interview with you?

Jeff Arch: Maybe we’ll talk about how we find our “somehows.”

The Journal: What are you working on now? And are you still determined to clinch an Academy Award?

Jeff Arch: I made some pretty big promises to myself as a kid, and I was determined to keep them. All these years later, I’m pretty satisfied. I’m not finished by a long shot, but if I was, I’d be okay with it. Right now, I have a movie and two series on my plate. The urgency isn’t there like it was, but that’s all right. What drives me now is that my son is a cameraman, and he’s determined that I’m going to write another hit and he’s going to shoot it. And if that’s his dream, then it has to be mine too. We can get our Oscars together. That’ll be sweet.

For more information about the Milford Readers and Writers Festival or to purchase tickets to Sleepless in Pennsylvania, visit milfordreadersandwriters.com.

Will Voelkel is a Milford resident, enjoys the Pike County arts scene, and is a frequent contributor to The Journal.

April 29, 1936 — July 4, 2025

William Schill passed away on July 4th, fitting for a firecracker, who sometimes signed his letters to friends as “the old trout in the river.”

Back in the spring of 2016, I enjoyed a leisurely lunch with Bill as we discussed some of his many achievements and his outlook on life. The afternoon culminated in a profile for the May issue of The Journal, “Corralling the Community.”

Of course, Bill kept in the thick of community life pretty much until the very end, and there is much more to say about him, including his work on the formation of the Black Bear Film Festival and as first president of Port Jervis Arts, but I thought that rerunning the profile would be a fitting tribute and glimpse into the personality of Port Jervis’s Man About Town.

Corralling a Community • Bill Schill

“We’re painting the cans—you know—for the beach,” Bill Schill mentions casually with his dry wit, sense of style, and humility intact.

What Schill is referring to here are the brightly colored hand-painted garbage cans that will adorn the Westend Beach on the Delaware River in Port Jervis, NY, this coming summer. And of course, Bill is involved in this volunteer project as he has been with so many others for the city he loves.

“Follow-through with volunteers here is quite interesting,” opines Schill when discussing a few of his recent pet projects, which in 2015 included celebrating both the 150th anniversary of the Civil War and also Stephen Crane’s presence in town during his years of penning his novel, The Red Badge of Courage. “I take great pride in the

whole process of getting people involved. That’s the fun of it,” says Schill.

The omnipresent Schill never lets the looming words, “There’s no money for this project,” faze his creativity. In fact, he thinks they are the most exciting words that anyone can say to him. “The nip and tuck of the whole thing is—how do we do anything with no money!” he explains.

William Schill was born in Port Jervis to a family that was raised on railroad and Kolmar money. At 18, he was ready to explore, and the only way out was to join the Navy. “In 1954, we all went into the service. It taught me how to live on my own. I learned everything about life, from managing money to living in different environments. I learned to follow rules and regulations. It was a very positive experience for me.”

Photo courtesy of Debbie Raia

The last year of his service was in Jacksonville, Florida, where he got involved with a vibrant community theatre. “The first production I did was Witness for the Prosecution, and they asked me to be the stage manager, and imagine this—my first set change was one minute long!”

“In my early twenties, I came to New York City under the GI bill. It was a very exciting time in the City. I ended up staying for fifty years; my residence was on Charles Street in the West Village.”

Schill set out to study acting, but the fates had a different plan. His first job was as a stage manager for a club act called Tony and Eddie. “We had a young singer who would rush down from uptown for the middle act. Sometimes we weren’t sure if she’d make it....” The woman was Barbara Streisand.

He never did work as an actor. “It never panned out—I had to earn a living,” Schill notes with a smile.

“I started on Broadway as an assistant stage manager for the infamous theatrical producer and director Hal Prince. I went on to do Fiddler and Zorba on Broadway, and then I would tour with the production company; and there was Jesus Christ Superstar. Liz Taylor and Richard Burton were just charming to work with on Equus, as was Lena Horne in The Lady and Her Music

“In the 80s, I quit the production stage manager biz and opened the William Schill Theatrical Agency on 57th Street. I specialized in new actors and did this until I retired.”

In 2012, Schill decided to move back to Port Jervis, the place where everything was familiar to him. Understanding his own drive and passions, Schill knew that he incorporated a dual sense of activism. He wanted to stay active for himself, as well as for a cause.

So Port Jervis became his activist cause.

Local antique store and art gallery owners Debbie Raia and Gordon Graff were the advocates that he connected with; he knew that they had their creative finger on what was going on in Port.

Once in town, Schill revamped the Port Jervis Council for the Arts. “I resurrected that and then became active on the Port Jervis Tourism Board— was appointed by the Mayor. I got involved with the Tri-State Railway Preservation Society and then Art and History in the Park.

“On May 28th, we are having a program, ‘The Wonders of Stained Glass,’ featuring the Port Jervis Presbyterian Church’s colorful and spectacular windows that include Louis Comfort Tiffany’s work. And on June 18th, Art & History in the Park will have an art show, ‘Spring Awakening,’ plus local historical exhibits of the Revolutionary and Civil Wars with period reenactors in and near Orange Square Veteran’s Memorial Park.”

Schill’s formula for success has always been to just keep pushing at it. The key here, Schill explains, “is to keep beating that horse across the finish line.”

As for his cause, Schill says, “The town is going up! It’s been changing in the four years that I’ve been here, whether the damn town wants to or not,” he adds with his iconic sense of humor.

Article reprinted from May 2016, The Journal

We will miss you, Bill. To support Port Jervis Arts’ Bill Schill Memorial Fund, please call 845.858.9895 or email portjervisarts@gmail.com.

By Alison Porter

Summer’s Simple Standards

Few things give me more pleasure in the summer than wandering around my local farmers market. Over the years, I have come to recognize many of the vendors and farmers, and often we exchange greetings. This brings me little bubbles of joy as I peruse the tables proudly displaying boldly colored, plump offerings that seem to strain at the confines of their containers.

While I browse the various offerings, I usually see wholesome looking helpers, ready to assist and answer questions. Their knowledge is impressive, and their enthusiasm is infectious. Whether they are talking about different types of honey, pickles, breads, or grass-fed beef, I always learn something new.

I am in awe at the sight of this seemingly boundless assortment of food that has been planted, weeded, and harvested at the right time by people in my area. I feel so proud. Someone—here in my community—did this! Even though that person is not me.

I personally have not had much luck growing things beyond flowers and herbs. In past summers, my cherry to-

mato plants stayed stubbornly puny and produced one or two very tiny tomatoes. The pepper plants were attacked by bugs. When, by some minor miracle, something actually flourished, the bunnies made sure to nibble it all before I could pick anything.

Maybe that is why I want to take it all home with me. I understand that, in farming, a successful harvest is not guaranteed. The colorful, exuberant plants seem to call out to me, “Pick me, take me home; we will make a beautiful meal together!”

And I am unable to resist. I pick them all and add them to my bags. I find a cute variety of squash I don’t know and add it to the bag. I notice some fragrant peaches at the peak of ripeness and, reverently, place them in the bag. Gorgeous scallions, sweet kohlrabi, all the unexpected jewels of the farming world, they find their way into my market bags.

I leave the farmers market brimming with ideas and laden down with a bounty that will provide the basis for a week’s worth of meals.

And more often than not, I arrive home, absolutely starving after thinking about food all morning, only to realize that I am missing one (or more) vital ingredient that prevents me from executing my half-imagined masterpiece.

I recognize that once again I have been seduced by voluptuous, fully ripened produce. I have gotten carried away, and now there’s nothing for dinner today. And as I survey the counter with a riot of gorgeous random vegetables, I realize that I have no coherent plan for a meal. This is the moment when I call upon my repertoire of summer standards. These are the stalwart recipes, using common ingredients that I keep on hand. I know that I can toss together a good meal quickly so I can get back to figuring out what delicious dishes I will make this week.

I think of these standards as my “five ingredient wonders,” in that, except for the salad dressing, each dish requires five ingredients or less. They are easy. They can be made ahead of time or in the time that it takes to get the grill ready. They remove excessive thinking from the perennial what’s-for-dinner question, narrowing things down to deciding what meat to grill. Most importantly, these dishes pair nicely with any adult beverage while the cook does the prep!

The first dish is a deceptively simple salad: Asian slaw. The beauty of this salad lies in its sturdiness and longevity. I can grate the ingredients way ahead of time, and they will stay crisp and fresh until the dressing is added. Even then, the salad holds on for another couple of days as a tasty leftover.

The slaw has four basic components—green cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, and scallions. The proportions are simple: one small green cabbage, one half of a small red cabbage, a couple of carrots, and three or four scallions. Grate or thinly slice the cabbages and carrots into a large bowl. Add the white part of the scallions, also thinly sliced, and toss with the dressing just before serving. Sprinkle the top with toasted sesame seeds if you’re feeling fancy.

What makes this combination of ordinary vegetables so special is the ginger sesame dressing. Although the dressing has an Asian flair, it seems to work with most proteins and side dishes. I have approximated the measurements in the recipe, although it is easily adjusted to your individual taste. Too sharp on the tongue, add a little oil; too sour, increase the honey or orange juice; too piquant, omit the hot sauce. When I make this recipe, I double the batch. I use some for the slaw and the rest as a marinade for meat or dressing for other vegetable dishes.

Nothing compares to the splendiferous taste of freshly picked corn, either boiled or roasted over the fire. Biting into an ear of corn, with that satisfying crunch that precedes the explosion of flavor, is one of the greatest pleasures of summer. I try to include this seasonal treat as often as possible while it’s available. And when I have an

extra minute and some fresh herbs, I make a compound butter as an accompaniment.

Compound butters are another four or five ingredient recipe that takes little effort and gives a big payout. If I haven’t thought of it before arriving home, I quickly mash it all together and freeze it for a few minutes to hasten the chilling process. This butter elevates the corn from yummy to “out of this world.” It tastes good on popcorn, too.

Dessert is rarely an afterthought, but sometimes I just run short on time. If I haven’t scored some beautiful fruit at the market to serve alone or with whipped cream, I know that I can make my emergency backup dessert: key lime pie.

It is a refreshing and creamy treat that also requires five ingredients yet provides layers of interesting flavors. This recipe does not involve sourcing and juicing those tiny key limes or crushing up graham crackers. It uses a store bought graham cracker crust. In a perfect world, I would make a homemade crust every time but this is summer, and I have other things to do. The prep is only a few minutes, baking takes 15 minutes. The biggest time commitment is how long it takes to cool and set the cooked pie in the fridge. To be honest, over the years I have served many a slightly warm, messy, runny key lime pie, and no one has ever complained.

Once satiated and content from a humble feast, I can turn back to my cookbooks and recipes. I am in my happy place, humming to myself in anticipation of what I will create with this week’s bounty from the farmers market. I’m sure at night there will be visions of ripe tomatoes dancing in my head.

Sesame Ginger Dressing

¼ cup tamari, thinned with water if too salty

3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

¼ cup white vinegar

Splash of orange juice

¼ cup light olive oil/canola oil or a mixture

1 tablespoon tahini

1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup

3 cloves grated garlic

1 ½ teaspoons freshly grated ginger

A dash or two of sriracha hot sauce

• Combine all ingredients in a jar or bowl and shake before using.

• Will keep in the refrigerator for two weeks at least.

No Fuss Compound Butters: Herb Butter

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (or other herbs, such as parsley, dill, basil, thyme)

¼ teaspoon finishing salt or sea salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Spicy Lime Butter

1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature

½ small jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced very fine Juice and zest of ½ lime

½ teaspoon salt

• In a bowl, spread the softened butter around the bottom and mash in the rest of the ingredients until they are well combined.

• Transfer the butter onto a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper and form into a log. Chill for about two hours before serving for best results.

Easy Key Lime Pie

1 deep dish graham cracker crust

3 cans of sweetened condensed milk (14 ounce can)

⅔ cup sour cream

1 cup key lime juice

1 ½ tablespoons grated lime zest

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, key lime juice and lime zest. Blend well and pour into graham cracker crust. Place on a cookie sheet in the center of the oven.

• Bake for about 15 minutes or until small bubbles form on the top of the pie. Do not overbake or allow it to brown.

• Chill in the refrigerator before serving. Garnish with twisted lime slices and whipped cream if desired.

Andy Martin hiking the Kittatinny Mountain pass near Walpack.

Photos courtesy of Andy Martin

By Andy Martin

County Roads That Took Our Ancestors Home

The roads we travel today are vastly different from those used centuries ago.

Modern roadways are typically paved with asphalt, lined with streetlights, marked by signs, and ideally free of sinkholes. As society has grown, so too has the complexity and reach of our transportation infrastructure; paths shaped by the spirit, needs, and technology of different eras. Yet, despite these changes, the direction or destination often remains the same. What has evolved is the way we have traveled the path.

I’ve always wondered who traveled these roads before me? I can’t be the first person to walk this narrow path or drive along this old trail. Who was the first? And why did they choose this way and not another? Was it necessity, instinct, or something more intangible that drew them down this particular route?

These questions linger with every step I take, connecting me to those who came before—settlers, traders, soldiers—each with their own purpose, hopes, and reasons for choosing a certain path.

Prior to the late 1600s, there were no formal road systems in North America. Instead, narrow paths, created by Na-

tive Americans and even by animals, served as the earliest travel routes across the land. These trails were essential passageways, often used for single-file travel to significant points of interest such as hunting grounds, water sources, or gathering sites. They played a vital role in indigenous trade, communication, and cultural exchange between tribes.

Over time, European settlers adopted and expanded many of these ancient paths, forming the foundation of the roadways, highways, and travel networks we use today.

Local Indian trails such as the Minisink Trail, a 75-milelong trail (the longest in New Jersey), is one example of these old passageways. One of the earliest records of this path is the 1747 James Alexander map, which indicates that the trail connected the Lenape communities living along the Navesink River area of Sandy Hook to the Lenape Minsi, or People of the Stone Country Council Fire, at Minisink Island in today’s Delaware Water Gap.

Unlike the well-known Minisink Trail, there was another trail in the Delaware Water Gap Recreation Area that was used by Lenape, and possibly by the Paleo Indians, as early as 10,500 BC. This trail led northwest of Blairstown through the Kittatinny Mountains by the Cat Fish Pond

and followed along the eastern side of the Delaware River toward the settlements of Pahaquarry and Millbrook.

As I investigated the original roads of Stillwater, my hometown, I wondered if this was the same trail that the township’s founding fathers used to come to the valley in the late 1730s.

According to James P. Snell’s book, History of Sussex and Warren Counties, NJ, “On the Jersey side of the Water Gap, in Pahaquarry Township, there is a place where the ledge of rocks presents a bold front along the roadside. This place is called the ‘Indian Ladder.’ Before the road was made along the river, these rocks presented a perpendicular front to the water’s edge, which prevented the inhabitants from having free communication with the outside world in that direction. In olden times, the Indians had there a kind of ladder made of an upright tree; afterwards a rope-ladder was made by the whites, but it was a dangerous place to get over, being thirty or forty feet in height.”

When considering Stillwater’s section of the Kittatinny Mountains, there were few options for the earlier settlers to traverse the demanding rocky terrain—Millbrook Road being one. The now-closed Flatbrookville–Stillwater Road, along with the military trail surveyed by Jonathan Hampton during the Indian uprising in the late 1750s, were likely alternative routes.

Unfortunately, there is no definitive way to know which paths were taken. However, scattered clues—through maps, deeds, and personal accounts—may guide us to-

ward a clearer understanding of the routes early settlers like Casper Shafer might have traveled.

Casper, a German Palatine immigrant, arrived in Philadelphia on the Queen Elizabeth on September 16th, 1738. He purchased land from the London Land Company and settled in Stillwater in 1741.

According to Snell, ”Casper Shafer endured the miseries of a tedious journey to mill, for he had more than once crossed the Pohoqualin Mountain, leading his horse, packed with a grist, over an Indian trail to a distant mill; and so he resolved to build at home a mill of his own.”

This mill became well-known and established enough that Casper used a Durham boat or “flat boat” on the Paulinskill River to transport his goods from his own grist mill to the markets in Philadelphia and return with supplies for his store. Years later, the mill itself was relocated a few hundred yards downstream closer to his residence alongside the newly created main street in Stillwater.

As more mill dams were built on the Paulinskill River, Casper’s trade business to other counties, via boat, vanished, but he continued to traffic with Elizabethtown (Elizabeth, NJ) luckily because of a growing colonial road system.

Casper might have used the same Indian Ladder path as previously referenced, which might have intersected with the famous Old Mine Road.

Though the origins of that road are shrouded in mystery, it is widely accepted that the Old Mine Road was established prior to the French and Indian War (c.1754–1763). It’s possible that Casper used this road to travel to the mill on Van Campen Brook—or perhaps even farther north to Flatbrookville. The road, one of the oldest continuously used routes in the United States, would have served as a vital artery for early settlers navigating the rugged terrain of northwestern New Jersey.

According to many maps drawn in the 18th century, including William Faden’s Map of 1778, no road is shown heading south of the Walpack Bend along the eastern side of the Delaware River to the lost township of Pahaquarry.

There is a road mentioned on Faden’s map that went from Port Jervis to Minisink Island where the road then split three ways. One road went through Culvers Gap. The second crossed the Delaware at Minisink Island and went south along the western side of the river. The third road went to Walpack Bend where it crossed the river and went south along the western side of the Delaware.

1860 Warren County map, “The road over the mountain.” Published by Smith, Gallup & Co., NY, 1860

As I continued to dig for clues about how Stillwater residents traveled the mountain, I discovered a map in a book titled The Dansbury Diaries. This volume includes detailed descriptions by the Reverend Swen Roseen and others, documenting the period from 1748 through 1755. The map, along with the firsthand accounts, offered invaluable insights into the routes and paths used during that time—possibly shedding light on the very trail Casper might have taken.

This book has a crudely drawn map that describes a path from Dansbury, which we know today as East Stroudsburg, PA, to where early settlers lived in Morris County, NJ. (That area later became Sussex County and then part of Warren County.)

This map shows a trail that Rev. Swen Roseen traveled from the Walpack region over the Kittatinny/Pahaquarry Mountains to Casper Shafer’s homestead, as well as those of neighbors Johnathan Pettit and Allen Nixon.

Rev. Roseen mentions, “He rode up the remaining hills near Walpack and met with Casper Shafer and afterwards with his brother-in-law George Wintermuth whose brother was a tailor….” From this passage, it appears that this journey over the mountain was not just a ten-minute walk but a half-day’s adventure.

Slowly roads were developed from these trails by the thousands of Irish, Germans, and other European immigrants, who left not just the Philadelphia region but also the Northern Hudson River Region.

Colonists like Casper Shafer established their own homesteads in pursuit of new economic opportunities and, for some, a measure of religious freedom. During the colonial era, most travel was limited to foot or horseback, making journeys long and often difficult. Yet despite these hardships, settlers pressed forward, carving lives for themselves in unfamiliar and challenging landscapes.

Soon these trails or paths were widened into a colonial highway called “The Great Road.” The road would still be difficult to travel as the weather determined road conditions—whether muddy, rutted, and dry or covered with tree limbs and other road hazards.

By the early 19th century, New Jersey established the turnpike system. One of the first turnpikes was created in 1805, which was a roadway from Paterson to Hamburg.

During the height of the Industrial Revolution, the Morris Canal emerged as a su-

perior alternative to the rough and unreliable roads of the time. Stretching 102 miles across the rugged highlands of New Jersey, the canal provided a critical transportation route. It began in Phillipsburg on the Delaware River, climbed uphill to its summit level near Lake Hopatcong, and then descended toward Jersey City on the Hudson River. This engineering marvel played a vital role in transporting coal, iron, and other goods across the state, transforming New Jersey’s economy and landscape.

I decided to make one more effort to uncover the Indian path that Casper might have taken over the Kittatinny Mountains. At the Main Library in Frankford, NJ, I was introduced to the Richard M. Stevens Collection —a vast archive of local deeds going back to the mid-1700s. The collection was immense in size and was meticulously organized with care and expertise.

It was here that I found a land deed that described this path. The deed, “X-263 West Jersey Deeds,” dated August 9, 1765, describes “the path leading from CASPER SHAVER’s across Pahaqualong Mountain to ABRAHAM VAN CAMPEN’s.” From there I was able to discover more deeds, including one dated March 15, 1748, which read “an old Indian path that leads from WILLIAM SCHOOLEY to Walpack under the foot of the mountain.”

So, it appears I have come to the end of this road or path in my journey to learn more about these old roads. Every twist and turn has led me not just through geography, but through time itself, much like the path I took to explore them. Though the journey seems to conclude here, it will remain, etched in these pages, for future generations to travel for themselves.

Andy Martin lives in Stillwater, NJ, and is a Trustee of the Stillwater Historical Society.

Marianne Solivan. Photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

Journey to Jazz Marianne Solivan

“Iheard some Ella, and it hit me like a thunderbolt,” said jazz singer Marianne Solivan, describing how she refocused her musical interests and turned from studying musical theater to a journey in jazz. “The music felt like a part of me that I hadn’t yet learned how to express. I still feel that way today. It allows me to be myself in a way that’s not always possible in the rest of life.”

Marianne Solivan and her quartet will bring their talents to Milford, PA, on August 16th as part of the Kindred Spirits Arts summer concert series at the Grey Towers Historical Site.

Born in New York City, Marianne is the fourth child of two pastors in the Pentecostal Church. Soon after her birth, her family moved to Venezuela where her parents served as missionaries until she was five years old.

After they moved back to the United States, settling first in New Jersey and then in Massachusetts, the family spent a lot of time in church, presenting young Solivan many opportunities to sing. She joined the youth choirs and became a soloist. As her talents became known, she made guest appearances as a singer in other churches in the area.

“At that time, it didn’t feel like I was a singer, per se. It was just what I did for fun. I became known for my singing at a young age and that gave me a bit of an identity in my early years,” she said.

Solivan didn’t receive any formal training in music until she entered high school and met a woman who became her mentor and thus changed her life. “My choral music teacher, Helen T. Taylor, captivated me from day one. She made an effort to make a connection with me; her classroom was always my safe space. I credit her for my deep love, appreciation, and dedication to music.”

Already playing the alto saxophone, Solivan dedicated herself to studying classical voice and appeared in every school musical theater production. “I realized that singing always made me happy,” she said. “I devoured music in those years, wanting to learn every bit I heard or thought would propel me into a career.”

Against the wishes of her parents, she decided to pursue music as a career and entered the Boston Conservatory to study classical voice training. She left after a year and

spent the next three and a half years working various jobs, knowing she wanted to continue in music, but unsure how to get there. “I waited on tables and managed restaurants, and I taught voice. It was a lot of late nights and early mornings. I developed the ability to sleep anywhere.”

A scholarship to the Berkeley School of Music helped her earn a dual degree in music education and performance. While teaching at four elementary schools upon graduation, she discovered jazz.

“I randomly purchased four recordings: an Ella Fitzgerald songbook compilation; a Dominique Eade recording; Nina Simone Sings the Blues; and At the Village Vanguard: Betty Carter.” Fitzgerald, especially, made a great impression on her: “There’s such tremendous hopefulness in all her music. No matter how sad the ballad, no matter how bad the break-up song, there’s always a silver lining.”

Continued on next page

After a year of teaching, Solivan, determined to learn more about jazz, enrolled in the new England Conservatory of Music and obtained a master’s degree in Jazz Studies.

“I honed my skills as a strong band leader and amassed a broad repertoire. I studied with a varied group of musicians and educators who exposed me to traditional as well as modern jazz,” she said. “Jazz challenges me intellectually, physically, and mentally, and I really love that. I’m constantly growing.”

After completing her education, Solivan returned to New York City to join the jazz community, enabling her to build friendships and mentorships she felt she never had. She noted, “Jazz as a lifestyle is about boundless creativity, commitment to learning, and an uncanny ability to adjust, pivot, and make things work. All of these make my life so much better.”

In addition to performing worldwide and leading numerous ensembles, Solivan is an Assistant Professor of Jazz Voice at Syracuse University. Her sixth album, Break’s Over was released in January and includes songs with lyrics and music written by Solivan and other artists, as well

“Jazz challenges me intellectually, physically, and mentally, and I really love that. I’m constantly growing.”

as music she wrote to lyrics written by Spanish poet Frederico Garcia Lorca.

Outside of performing and teaching, Solivan loves to cook, especially meals featuring lots of vegetables. “I try new foods when I travel. I love croissants in France, cheese from everywhere, and, of course, wine,” she said.

Joining Solivan on August 16th will be pianist Brandon McCune, bassist Steve Wood, and drummer Jay Sawyer. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door or in advance Eventbrite.com. Kindred Spirits Arts Programs (KSAP) is a not-for-profit organization of volunteers that brings performing artists to Northeast Pennsylvania. KSAP also arranges educational enrichment programs for area students. To learn more, visit www.kindredspiritsarts.org or call 570.390.8699. Donations and volunteers are much appreciated.

Lisa K. Winkler divides her time between Milford, PA, and Summit, NJ. She’s a former newspaper reporter and publicschool teacher. She writes personal histories, plays, poetry, and is in the midst of a historical fiction novel. Winkler serves as the press relations volunteer for Kindred Spirits Arts Programs.

Ar sans On Ann

Sat., August 30 • 9am - 4pm Ann Street, Stroudsburg, PA

75 plus artisans representing many diﬀerent art styles. Framed and unframed oil, acrylic and multimedia, fabric artists, photograpy, pottery, woodworkers, local winery, local brewery, food and more.

PARKING & ADMISSION! Call 570-424-1174 for more details.

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Birland Theater. Photo by Caroline Conejero

Photos courtesy of Greg Martel

By Amy Bridge

Through the Eyes of a Falconer

I’dnever met a licensed falconer before; in fact there are only about 5,500 of them in the entire United States.

So, when sitting with Gregory Martel in Milford, PA, I wondered how he became inspired to pursue this career and earn his falconry license. The answer, it turns out, was that for him it was a culmination of life’s events.

Martel was born in Saint Omer, a tiny village in Northern France. In his 20s, he moved to Paris where he earned a master’s in education, and from there, he went to Senegal, West Africa, to teach French as a second language. When he saw a help-wanted ad to teach French in Louisiana public schools in the US, he jumped right on it.

Teaching French to Cajun kids in a backcountry parish came with its challenges, but it was attending a “Birds of Prey” show at a 2008 Renaissance fair in eastern Louisiana that brought home the falconry connection for Martel.

He had always had a love of the Middle Ages, and while watching this show, he knew that working as a falconer was what he wanted to do. It combined his love for show-

manship with Renaissance dress and music and a scripted educational message. He loved everything about it.

Obtaining his state license, Martel learned, was a complex process. Not only did he have to acquire a small game hunting license and study the history of falconry, but he also had to learn about the legislation and regulations involved. One must identify birds in the field and learn about diseases, migration, and equipment, such as hoods, anklets, and jesses, which is part of a tethering system. There are scales to weigh the birds every day and bath pans, where the birds bathe. One also needs to learn how to build a mews, which is an aviary or hawk house.

Falconers must be licensed in their state, and in order to offer an educational component, they must be permitted through the US Fish and Wildlife Service. There are only about 35 falconers licensed to offer an interactive falconry experience with the public. Out of that number, he is one of only three in PA.

Once Martel had his hunting license and his falconry permit, the real fun began.

Photo by Jake Jurdsjuk

Martel started with a red tail hawk, which is used for hunting, and a barred owl, which was a rescue. He held small educational programs at 4H clubs and the local library.

In 2016, he took a job at a falconry center in Woodstock, Vermont. There he conducted and ran an interactive falconry experience. “It is important to note,” Martel tells me, “that in the US, birds of prey are not considered pets or livestock, even if they were hatched in captivity. They are considered wildlife, and most states do not allow the public to physically hold and interact with wildlife. However, Vermont, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey do.”

“All native bird species are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. This protects eggs, nests, and even feathers.” He added, “It is illegal to shoot any native bird species, such as falcons, os preys, owls, or hawks.”

I learned that the only people allowed to have raptor feathers are licensed falconers, wildlife rehabbers, and Native American tribes who are registered with the US government.

Martel continues, “One of the many regulations that I have to follow to be able to hold hands-on experiences with these birds is that they must be hatched in captiv ity. Only if you have a falconry license can you fly a wild-sourced bird for hunting purposes, and then you must release it back to nature.

In 2014, Martel combined his experience as an educator with his love of nature and his passion for the Middle Ages and started a business, Masters of the Skies, based in both New Hope and Milford, PA. “My birds and I participate in big raptor shows, small Renaissance fairs, and private group raptor education, featuring interactive falconry experiences.”

Today, falconry plays a big part in the conservation of endangered raptor species. Martel’s three-year-old superstar Harris hawk was named Cade after the North American falconer, Tom Cade, who helped save peregrine falcons from extinction in the 1960s and 70s.

“It’s important for me to give my birds a name that ties into the educational contents of my program,” he says.

“The association of bird and man dates back thousands of years,” Martel explains. Believed to have started in present day Mongolia, the ancients watched as an eagle or falcon caught their prey, and they followed the birds so they could catch their own dinner. In parts of Asia, fishermen devised ways to take the fish directly from a cormorant’s mouth.

“We are borrowing what exists in the wild and can return it at any time. We’re actually helping the bird catch dinner. They’re not our pets; they see us as a hunting partner. Being a falconer is a tremendous amount of work and responsibility.”

In 2018, Martel moved to Bucks County, PA, and became a subcontractor performing falconry abatement. He flew a team of hawks and falcons for 9 hours a day over industrial sites to scare away nuisance birds, such as geese, gulls, sparrows, and starlings that can gather by the thousands. I wondered how he gets the birds to come back to him at the end of the day.

“You have to build trust and respect; you make a connection with each bird. We treat the birds like athletes; they must be on their A-game. There needs to be consistency and weight management. We need to make sure they’re willing to come back.”

Martel tells me that diurnal birds of prey can only carry about one or two pounds, which is about half of their body weight, contrary to popular belief that they can catch a dog or cat and carry it away. It is physically impossible, Martel notes.

Falconry is one of the oldest hunting sports known to humanity. It reached Western Europe via the silk trade route that began about one hundred years BC, although the ancient Romans never truly practiced falconry because of its association with the Germanic tribes, who were seen as uncivilized and barbaric.

In the high Middle Ages, falconry was known as a hunting sport, a way to put meat on the table, but it was also considered entertainment, an indication of social status, and was even linked with romance and courtship.

Charles, the Hammer, Martel is best known for stopping the Muslim invasion of France in the 700s. Martel was the grandfather of Charlemagne, who is seen today as the Father of Europe and the defender of the Christian church. Western Europe flourished and experienced a cultural and societal rebirth under Charlemagne’s reign, the Carolingian Renaissance. Gregory Martel has traced his direct lineage to both.

“Charlemagne believed that every gentleman in the kingdom should be trained in the art of falconry because it taught qualities such as patience, finesse, and hunting. Fast forward about 1,200 years later, and here I am,” Martel said, with a grin.

For more information or to book a falconry experience, visit www.mastersoftheskies.org

Aries (March 20-April 19) – Saturn and Neptune are working together to help you form entirely new elements of who you are; new underlying structures and means of expression. So keep your mind on your larger movements and greater goals. What are they? They’re likely to be based on discoveries you never would have anticipated. Suspend your previous expectations, difficult as this may be. Let go of emotional attachments to ideas and ideologies, and instead, keep asking yourself what is true, and what is true for you.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) – Vulnerability may not be your strong suit, though you are in a moment that you can only fully experience and embrace if you are open to experience and open to others. The emphasis on Aries has the potential to push you into a state of extreme self-absorption. While you need to maintain your inner awareness, do whatever you can to remain a member of the human race. Treat people like you want to be treated.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) – Uranus, the planet of inventions, revolutions and revelations, has recently arrived in your sign, and will help you consciously rearrange and recreate the patterns of your life. If you’ve been caught in habits of any form that you’ve faced challenges shifting, you will suddenly find that these things give way to new approaches to existence. In this next phase of being, the pace will increase and decisions will matter more — and take effect sooner. You have needed a leap forward for a long time, and several are in progress.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) – Jupiter in Cancer is inviting you to live your blessings rather than count them. Expand into your potential, and dust off a few of your long-cherished though neglected personal goals. The more you aspire to, the more you will accomplish. Implied here is thinking large in a way that you’re not accustomed to; usually you fit into the space allotted and do your best from there. Yet the stretching point involves the realization that your life is not just about you. You do not exist merely for your own sake.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) – You may think you’ve gone as far as you can, and accomplished as much as is possible under the current conditions — though you have not even begun to access your true potential. There have been all kinds of fireworks in the planetary patterns for the past month or so. All you need to do is stay awake in the presence of overwhelming pressure to drift off to sleep and forget who you are. There is something, and it’s larger than just you.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) – There are times you are looking at life as if through the wrong end of binoculars. Instead of a close and intimate perspective, it’s like you’re looking down a tunnel at a distant location that you cannot see. Only what you’re looking at is yourself. So set the binoculars down; you do not need any special tool to perceive your reality. Relax into who you are. When you’re doing this, you will feel better: that’s your clue.

Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) – Is there tension in your life between the seeming categories ‘relationship’ and ‘career’? If so, map it out using paper and pencil. What are the demands you think that either of these are making of you? Is it a time issue, or is there a matter of emotional energy? They have one thing in common: neither can make you happy. Set aside that expectation. It’s what you offer of yourself that can potentially make you happy — and nothing else.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) – You seem to be drowning in mixed emotions. Please, get over yourself, and step into a larger world. How you feel is the glue that binds you from having a broad and encompassing perspective. Your emotional life and all of its complexity ensures that you’ll exist in a small world where everything matters and nothing makes a difference. Jupiter in Cancer is calling on you to look all the way out to the horizon, get a higher perspective, and take another look.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) – Saturn and Neptune are offering you the potential to challenge yourself by doing something you’ve never done before. This involves becoming someone you’ve never been, which will happen day-by-day as you push into unfamiliar personal and creative territory. Your spirit is craving learning, growing and a quest for understanding yourself. Such will not happen in a comfort zone, though it’ll definitely make you present to yourself.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) – It’s time to ask yourself what role relationships serve for you. This counts whether you are in a relationship or have the idea that you want one. There are many ways that you can and do gain from connecting with others, but what is their emotional basis? Other questions of a spiritual nature are arising for you now, and you’re being called to go into some detail in your inquiry. The answers are likely to be shaping all of your values and expectations of life and of love.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) – Now is the time to bring forth the humanitarian spirit of Aquarius. Sadly, this is one of the most under-emphasized attributes of your sign, though people sometimes dream that it’s true. Therefore, imagine that your role on the planet is to be of service to those around you who are in need. This instinct is about taking care of the world — the highest vibration of Aquarius, and one that few will attain. The temptations to give into other frames of mind are simply too great for most people to resist. Stay awake, and do what you can. ‘All for one, one for all’ is a cosmic law.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) – Pisces is the most pleasure seeking sign, and you need to honor this in wholesome ways. Your soul is aching for creative freedom of a kind that is not readily offered by the environment we’re all captured by right now. The most beautiful and beauty-loving aspects of your nature are summoning you. To respond will take some courage; anyone who wants to allow themselves some space to relax into existence has some letting go to do.