Check out the wonderful fall decorations of corn stalks and pumpkins on Main Street! Special thank you again to Swartz Dairy and Produce for generously donating. Here are also a few pictures of the colorful flowers still in bloom this time of year along Main.
Another successful annual sweep, with 27 volunteers who collected 665 lbs. of trash and recyclables. We removed and gathered massive amounts of brush, scrub trees and other undesirable growth that was obstructing views of the river and access to the beaches on either side of Riverfront Park. The most common trash item collected were candy wrappers. The most unusual of the sweep were a family of baby bunnies who scattered when their brush was disturbed but they were gathered and replaced and marked with a Do Not Disturb sign.
A tremendous Thank you to all the volunteers and their effort, the support of the Village of Castleton leadership, the Department of Public Works. Additionally we would like to thank American Rivers and Home Depot for their donations.
Andrea Marvinney and Suzanne Cecala were coleaders who worked closely with Riverkeeper to set up and organize the cleanup. Please visit Riverkeeper and show your support of the important work that they do safeguarding the Hudson River by making a donation or shopping their Riverkeeper Swag.
Happy Holidays! 2020 is coming to a close soon, and we’re looking forward to a new year. This one has been very challenging, to say the least. To those who have endured losses this year, our hearts go out to you. And while Thanksgiving looks very different this year for most of us, we want to express our gratitude for our village and for each other. The Castleton-on-Hudson Main Street Association (COHMSA) team feels very grateful that we live in a welcoming community with kind neighbors, low crime, lovely homes and beautiful scenery.
We launched our annual membership drive at the end of October and we are grateful to those who have renewed their membership or joined for the first time. Your support helps us accomplish our goals of visible change and forward our efforts in the areas of economic growth and community pride. We are 100% volunteer and the support of the community helps keep us going. It’s not too late to donate for the 2021 year!
Those who donated $50 or more got a free “I Love Castleton-on-Hudson” face mask. We are also selling them for $12 each. If interested, please email info@castletonmainstreet.org and we’ll get one to you.
In addition, while we encourage buying local and shopping small businesses, if you do shop on Amazon, consider enrolling in their Smile program and choosing us as the charity to receive a portion of your purchase. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and it helps our organization.
We would like to congratulate Joe Keegan for his win as Mayor of Castleton and Jen Pratico and Lissa D’Aquanni as Village Board Trustees. We thank Marianne Carner for always being a great liaison between COHMSA and Village Board and we welcome Lissa to joining us. We thank Bob Schmidt for his service as Mayor and Gina Giuliano for her service as Trustee.
RIVERKEEPER SWEEP: On October 17, COHMSA, in partnership with Mayor Joe Keegan and village Trustees Sharon Martin and Lissa D’Aquanni, led Riverkeeper’s annual Sweep which had been postponed from May due to COVID-19. With strict COVID safety guidelines and safe track crossing procedures, we did a huge cleanup of Riverfront Park. Drive or walk by and check out the beautiful views!
Thank you to the wonderful volunteers who came out and helped and to the Castleton Department of Public Works. We represented Rensselaer County as one of more than 65 locations from Brooklyn to Watervliet with more than 900 volunteers who came out to care for the Hudson River. Together we removed 8 tons of trash, 1 ton of recycling, and 98 tires, and planted or maintained 500+ native trees and shrubs.
Here are some other updates:
HALLOWEEN PARADE: We were delighted to participate in the vehicle parade organized by the Castleton Public Library in conjunction with the Fire Department and attended by village trustees. What a joy to see all the families lining the parade route in their costumes, excited to get the candy being tossed their way.
FALL DECORATIONS: Thank you to Swartz Dairy & Produce for their generous donation of corn stalks and pumpkins for decorating Main Street.
CASTLETON VIDEO: You might remember that COHMSA submitted a video for HGTV’s new show, Home Town Takeover, last February. We didn’t win, unfortunately, but for some reason, it has begun circulating widely recently and we are happy for the attention and positive feedback.
MAIN STREET PROPERTY OWNERS: We see you! Thank you to those who have recently made improvements either by painting, cleaning or repairing your property. Every little bit helps Main Street look nicer.
NAUTICAL FLAGPOLE: The nautical signal flags, which spell “WELCOME HOME,” have been taken down for the winter. The American flag will continue to fly and will be replaced as needed. (Last year, the replacement was delayed due to shipping issues related to COVID.)
As always, we welcome ideas and suggestions.
Email:
info@castletonmainstreet.org
Website:
www.castletonmainstreet.org
Facebook and Instagram:
COHMSA
Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season –
Team COHMSA
Riverfront Park
2020
Castleton-on-Hudson
What a wonderful day Riverkeeper Sweep on Saturday, October 17th was! COHMSA, supported by Village officials, staff and volunteers, helped clean up 225 lbs. of garbage from the banks of the Hudson River. We also removed a massive amount of scrub trees and overgrowth from Riverfront Park, unveiling this hidden treasure and revealing beautiful vistas of the River.
Riverkeeper, who organized this Sweep event in more than 65 sites along the Hudson from Brooklyn to the Capital Region said that with only half the sites reporting results, 27,801 lbs. of garbage was cleaned from the River. Thank you to everyone who helped maintain one of our most precious resources.
To learn more about the efforts of Riverkeeper in protecting the Hudson River visit: https://www.riverkeeper.org/
We would like to thank The Home Depot in Rensselaer and Country True Value Hardware & Rental for their generous donation of garbage bags and work gloves. We greatly appreciate your support!
Special thanks to Mike Martin and team who was instrumental in helping Castleton in being recognized as a Tree City USA community.
You may have noticed the signs are up at the village entrances. Castleton has demonstrated a commitment to the public trees by managing them and caring for them. Below are a few key benefits of the TREE CITY USA program:
The Village of Castleton purchased five new trash cans. The old cans had been in service for many years and were heavily dented, rusted, and in poor condition. The old trash cans detracted from the pride and appearance of the sidewalks along Main Street. COHMSA helped support the effort to replace the cans by pushing for this improvement, researching what to purchase, and providing additional funds to the village to help offset the purchase price. These trash cans should look great along Main Street for years to come!
The Meet Me on Main planters are back out on Main Street for Memorial Day. We added a new metal planter this year that was donated by our friends at The Castleton Tractor Supply Store. We would like to thank them for their donation of the planter to be used on Main Street. The COHMSA team planted each of the planters and added flags.
With the current circumstances of COVID-19 that we are facing as a Nation we all can use some strength to get through this. To show we are all in this together and everything will be alright, COHMSA has placed Castleton Strong signs along Main Street. Keep thinking Castleton Strong!
Special thanks to the Village DPW for installing the new solar light on the flagpole and the County for lending their bucket truck through shared services. Great teamwork gets it done.
