2025 News | Historical Society of Middletown

All Things Pumpkin at HSM Oct. 19

Oct 6, 2025 | 2025 News

“All Things Pumpkin!,” a new event on the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown’s roster, will be held Sunday, Oct. 19 from 2 to 4 at the Middletown History Center, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.

There will be pumpkin painting and decorating for kids, pumpkin trivia and a pumpkin seed spitting contest! Complementary pumpkin soup will be available, along with hot mulled cider.

Guest judges will preside over a bake-off (with prizes!) for pumpkin cookies and bread. Bakers are asked to bring a plate of a dozen cookies or a loaf of pumpkin bread to the center by 1:30. Call Iris, 845-586-4689, for more information, or go to mtownhistory.org to find contest entry rules.

Contest entries will then be available for attendees to enjoy.

Bake-Off Guidelines

Weather permitting, accomplished angler and guide Lenny Millen will offer fishing lessons at the pond. Poles will be available for novice anglers to try to hook the lunker bass that lurk beneath the surface (catch and release, of course).

RARE BASEKT AUCTION

A special feature of the event will be a silent auction of hand-crafted baskets made by Karl Amor (1906-1992), a folk artist whose work has been on display at the center this season.

Karl Amor baskets, woven from willow shoots, grapevines and spruce roots gathered by the artist along roadsides and streambanks, have long been highly sought after by local residents and folk-art collectors. This is a rare opportunity to bid on these one-of-a-kind baskets, with proceeds benefitting HSM.

The exhibit on the life and work of Amor, and of metal folk artist Joseph Schoell, will remain on display for the October 19 event.

Admission is by donation.

Middletown History Center Open Oct. 3 & 4; Bakers Sought!

Oct 1, 2025 | 2025 News

The Middletown History Center, 778 Cemetery Road, Margaretville welcomes visitors Friday, Oct. 3 from 10 to 2, and Saturday, Oct. 4 from 1 to 3.

Sit by the pond, bring lunch to enjoy at the picnic table, view an exhibit on the work of two local folk artists, and check out the genealogical and historical documents in the Nicholas J. Juried Archives.

Basket maker Karl Amor (1906-1992) and metal sculptor Joseph Schoell (1907-1993) are highlighted in the season’s exhibit. Some of Amor’s baskets will be offered in a special sale at the upcoming All Things Pumpkin event on Sunday, Oct. 19 from 2 to 4 p.m.

The event will include a Pumpkin Bake-off. Prizes will be awarded for the best pumpkin cookies and pumpkin bread. For more information, call 845-586-4689.

Bake-Off Guidelines

The History Center’s hall is available for event rental. Stop by to check it out. You can also find out about volunteer opportunities with the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown. FMI: Mtownhistory.org; 845-586-2400.

Cauliflower Festival Sept. 20

Sep 15, 2025 | 2025 News

The Annual Margaretville Cauliflower Festival is excited to celebrate its 21st year this September 19th through the 21st, 2025. This free event honors the history of cauliflower farming, agriculture, art and community with food, live music, vendors, and activities all weekend long!

Start the weekend with a Rockabilly concert at Union Grove Distillery, in Arkville on Friday at 7:00pm, featuring the Lara Hope Band! There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door.

On Saturday, The Cauliflower Festival will kick off with the ever popular Tractor Parade riding down Main Street, led by The Cauliflower Queen into the fairgrounds.

Enjoy fun for the entire family including food vendors all offering cauliflower options, a Pure Catskills tent, children’s activities and games, a unique selection of vendors and shopping options, and live music all day long. The 9th Catskill Conquest Rally will visit the Cauliflower Festival with a mix of vintage and modern cars.

Saturday night, enjoy a cauliflower tasting menu and the newly opened Rae’s of Margaretville.

The fun doesn’t stop there! Sunday morning, head over to Café Mornings for a cauliflower inspired brunch paired with their usual coffee drinks and Korean brunch menu.

Main Street Margaretville welcomes you to stop by and shop at its many new retail stores, dining options, art galleries, specialty food purveyors, jewelers, and so much more.

The Cauliflower Festival takes place at the Village Park behind Freshtown Marketplace on Bridge Street, Margaretville, NY 12455. For updates and more information, visit the Festival’s website, Facebook page, and Instagram

The 21st Annual Cauliflower Festival is brought to you by The Margaretville Arts Center and sponsored by Pure Catskills and The Middletown Historical Society.

Armchair Cemetery Tour Aug. 23 / 24

Aug 17, 2025 | 2025 News

MARGARETVILLE – Seven people from the past and a narrator to introduce them will be featured in the Historical Society of Middetown’s 2025 Living History Cemetery Tour August 23 and 24.

Instead of a walking tour through a cemetery, this year’s event has been reimagined as an “Armchair Tour” for the stage at Open Eye Theater in Margaretville. The stories will be just as compelling as in past years, however, with the addition of background visuals.

In this 11th living history event sponsored by the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown, seven characters, individuals who are buried in cemeteries throughout Middletown, will tell their stories. They include:

Fanny Hubbell, the “fourth Hubbell Brother,” who was crucial to maintaining the family business in Kelly Corners, portrayed by Rebecca Newman;

Conservation Officer Bryan Burgin and his outdoorsman friend Burt Tubbs, played by John Bernhardt and Frank Ryan;

Mathew Halcott, first postmaster of Halcottsville and the son of a British soldier who switched sides during the American Revolution, played by Burr Hubbell;

Molly Goldberg

Maria Haner, who bore the loss of a son and her husband in the Civil War, portrayed by Amy Taylor;

Tillie Edelstein, better known as radio and TV star Molly Goldberg, who discovered her passion for performance at her family’s boarding house in Fleischmanns, played by Adrienne Gusoff; and

Boaz Searle, an early settler in Middletown who ministered to his neighbors as a physician, played by Ward Stevenson.

Kent Brown, narrator, will introduce the characters, linking them in the continuum of Middletown history.

Directing the production will be Joyce St. George and Frank Canavan.

Reservations are not needed to attend the performances, scheduled for 4 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24. Admission is $20 (cash or check, please). Children under 15 get in free.

For more information on HSM events visit mtownhistory.org where there is much more local history to be enjoyed.

Birthday Block Party July 26 celebrates Margaretville anniversary

Jul 2, 2025 | 2025 News

MARGARETVILLE – The Village of Margaretville invites residents and visitors to play, shop, eat, drink and dance in the middle of Main Street Saturday, July 26 from 4 to 7 p.m.

The street will be partially closed for this Birthday Block Party which celebrates the 150^th anniversary of the village’s incorporation as the local governing body back in 1875. Parking is available in municipal lots off Bridge Street, Walnut Street and Church Street.

The event will kick off at 4 p.m. sharp when a photograph will be taken of everyone who gathers in front of the iconic 1850 Bussy Building at the corner of Walnut and Main. The community snapshot, in the tradition of those taken in 1979 and 2000, will record this moment in Margaretville’s long and colorful history. To be part of this special commemoration, be there no later than 4 p.m. Come as you are! Or wear a commemorative T-shirt, available now and at the Block Party, from the Happy Giraffe.

Then get ready to get down with the music of Sue’s Garage, a seven-member band that will play the best of ‘60s and ‘70s rock music from 4:30 to 7.

Most businesses will stay open late, offering sidewalk sales, special activities and raffles. Food and beverages will be available from Oda’s Wine Garden with its oyster bar and grill on the patio; Café Marguerite, with Mexican specialties on the Binnekill Square deck, and Freshtown, offering hotdogs and burgers in the Binnekill Park. Catskill Mountain Embers will bring its mobile pizza oven, and Union Grove Brewstillery will be there with its signature drinks.

A soon-to-open restaurant and bakery on Main Street, Tomato Tomahto by the proprietors of Oda’s, will offer fresh bread, focaccia and sandwiches.

Ice cream will be served up by Margaretville Deli and Market, the MCS Class of 2028 will sell soda and sweets, and Margaretville Liquor Store will have a wine tasting.

Art and activities

Folks following the Andes-Margaretville-Roxbury (AMR) Open Studios Art Tour will follow signs to Longyear Gallery in the Commons Building and to Annex Art & Supply, 816 Main Street to see the paintings of Erica Bradbury. Art-Up, the Binnekill Square gallery, will feature a three-artist show, “No Apologies.” Bea Ortiz’ “Make Your Own Art” creative space and gallery, and Jenny Neal’s photography can be found on the second floor of the Commons Building, 765 Main. Gary Mayer’s studio will be open upstairs above Bloom fabric shop.

Vintage vehicles will be on display in the NBT parking lot. Next door, at Fairview Public Library, fun stations for kids will be set up, including a floral craft workshop by Sacred Soil. A Tiny Art Show and a children’s book sale are planned at the library as well.

Catskill Mountain Tattoo, Honeybee Herbs and Atelier Marguerite will also provide hands-on activities at their locations.

Margaretville Hospital staff will be with Westchester Medical Center’s Mobile Medical Unit to offer health screenings and wellness information. At 850 Main, Studio Upstate will team up with Twisted Sister Yoga to offer free 15-minute yoga sessions at 4:30 and 5:30, followed by a sound bath demonstration at 6pm.

Scavenger Hunt!

While you’re downtown, pick up an entry form for a Visual Scavenger Hunt and see how many of the architectural and sign details you can spy. Forms are currently available at the library and the Municipal Building. Those submitted at the Block Party will be eligible for prizes.

The doors of the Municipal Building will be open so that visitors can view a beautiful permanent exhibit of photographs of Margaretville in earlier days. A display about the Galli-Curci Theater, its builder and its namesake will also be set up. Representatives of the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown will be on hand to answer questions and promote upcoming events at the Middletown History Center.

Characters from Margaretville’s past will stroll along the street engaging in conversation about their lives and the development of the village.

Concluding concert

The party doesn’t end at 7 p.m.! It continues at Margaretville Methodist Church, Church Street, a block off Main, at 7:30 with a concert by vocalist Gina Hanzlik and violist Anna Stromer. “Margaretville Memoir” will explore the past century and a half of music, from opera to folk songs, classical to pop standards. Admission is by donation.

Mayor John Hubbell, with Trustees Iris Mead, Sarah Hubbell, Dave Budin and Jeff Warren; the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce, and the Historical Society of the Town of Middletown are spearheading the birthday celebration.

This event is made possible by a Delaware County Economic Development Tourism grant, matched by the Village, and contributions from the following: Sluiter Agency, NBT, MTC, FNBC Construction Corp., and Rotary Club of Margaretville.

The evening concert is supported by the owners of the Galli-Curci Theater.

For more information, visit villageofmargaretville.com or mtownhistory.org.

Margaretville through the years topic of July 13 program

Jul 2, 2025 | 2025 News

The Village of Margaretville will mark the 150th anniversary of its incorporation this year. The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM) will present an illustrated talk on the village’s colorful history Sunday, July 13 at 2 p.m. at the Middletown History Center, 778 Cemetery Rd., Margaretville.

The program will cover the impact of railroads, wars, floods and technological progress on businesses, schools, hospitals, civic groups and families. Introducing the talk will be Orson Allaben, the village’s first postmaster and most ardent promoter. Portrayed by John Bernhardt, Mr. Allaben will reflect on the people and flavor of the community during his lifetime, 1808 to 1891.

Presenting the illuminating walk through village history will be Iris Mead, a Village trustee and member of the HSM Board, and Diane Galusha, president of HSM.

Admission to the program is by donation.

A Birthday Block Party will continue the celebration on Main Street Saturday, July 26 from 4 to 7 p.m. The street will be partially closed, music will be provided by Sue’s Garage, vintage cars will be on display, food will be available for purchase, and there will be kids activities, sidewalk sales and raffles. A community portrait will be taken at 4 p.m. The event concludes with a 7:30 concert at the Methodist Church by vocalist Gina Hanzlik, who will present “Margaretville Memoir: 150 years of Music in the Mountains.”

For updates on the Sesquicentennial, visit villageofmargaretville.com or mtownhistory.org.

Orson Allaben