Hudson Valley Business + ValleyVines

Prime real estate that Orange County, developers and the village and town of Goshen scratched and clawed over is finally open to the public.

The former seminary and school, situated on 50 acres that front Main Street, was bought by Goshen’s Joint Town and Recreation Commission and was supposed to have its official opening on Saturday, June 14 … only nobody showed up with the ribbon. Several elected officials turned out for the event, only to be told it was a “soft” opening.

After years of wrangling, taking down some dangerous structures and cleaning up years of accumulated overgrowth, the gates are now open and visitors are free to walk the site. But buildings that still remain, like the stone beauty pictured above, will remain closed until their fate is decided.

“It’s a beautiful piece of property,” said Legislator Frank Fornario Jr., who also showed up for the official opening. “I just had a problem trying to find a place to park. If I had known they didn’t have the ribbon, I would have brought some myself, maybe the scissors, too!”

Someone at the Hess station on Route 299 in New Paltz had some fun with the public last week, posting regular gas for sale at $1.99 a gallon. (And to think that price used to seem outrageous!) Some gas-watchers are predicting $5 a gallon for regular by mid-summer. Let’s hope these petrol pundits are wrong. Drivers, business, commuters and leisure travelers are definitely planning trips and carpooling to conserve whenever possible. Meantime, for a brief, misleading moment in New Paltz, we could dream about the good old days of two-buck gas.

United Hospice of Rockland has scheduled its Healing Hearts Memorial Rock Garden event for Wednesday, June 25, at 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Hospice Center, 11 Stokum Lane, New City.

Children ages 3 ½ -18 who are participating in the Healing Hearts program will have an opportunity to plant their personalized hand-painted rocks in the memorial rock garden. During the ceremony, the children will also have a chance to talk about and memorialize their loved ones. Their rocks will permanently adorn the garden.

Interested community members, children and Healing Hearts participants are invited to share. Entertainment and refreshments will be provided.

Kookystaff – Currently working in an office near you.

Lower Class – Used to be known as the Middle Class.

Sealed with a Punch Productions – May work for some, but Vines prefers to seal deals with a kiss.

See Spot Run – Did he see the woman in the scrubs coming at him with the clippers?

The U.S. Military Academy has made the lyrics of “Alma Mater” and “The Corps” gender neutral. Lines such as “The men of the Corps” will now read “The ranks of the Corps,” according to press reports.

Memorial Day weekend, the official start of summer, found the Ulster County fairgrounds abuzz with activity: The Woodstock-New Paltz Arts & Crafts Fair was open for three days of art, food and fun.

What every exam room could use is a chair for the doctor to sit and listen to a patient. He learned that from a doctor while studying in Italy. Klein says he has lived and worked by that advice in his own practice in Yorktown Heights for 30-plus years.

Two members of Troop 21, Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson Inc., offer water to runners taking part in the annual Dutchess ARC Laurel Run on May 18 at Freedom Park in LaGrange. Money raised for the run will benefit Dutchess ARC programs.

J.H. Cohn L.L.P., based in White Plains, held a fundraiser in 2007for Air National Guard personnel serving out of the 105th Airlift Wing in Newburgh. The fundraiser started out to support the spouses of employees who have been serving in the Middle East and evolved as contributions piled up.

Earlier this year, gas gurus predicted prices might go as high as $4 a gallon. Looks like their crystal balls were right, if this sign spotted along 17M in Orange County is any indication.

Spring has sprung and with flowers breaking ground people are once again using the region’s walking, hiking and biking trails to enjoy the views.

During the Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce breakfast on April 16, students from Our Lady of Lourdes High School not only got front row seats to hear the keynote speaker Anthony Campagiorni, but also had a booth in the Poughkeepsie Grand’s hallways to hawk their T-shirts.

After 23 years of serving the U.S. Army, state Sen. William Larkin hasn’t forgotten his military roots. He hosted the 56th annual West Point Legislative Day in Albany on April 9.

Newburgh-based muralist Garin Baker will make Monday more enjoyable at Newburgh’s Mount St. Mary College.

Harriman’s Home Depot parking lot appears to have been visited by a time-traveling speakeasy habitué.

Since the driver wasn’t available to comment, we can only speculate as to his message’s meaning, but we defend to the death the right to say it!

March 2008 marks year five years of “Operation Enduring Freedom.” Like Vietnam and Korea, Iraq is not officially a war, but that designation hasn’t stopped it from taking on all the hallmarks of war. Over the Easter weekend, the 4,000th U.S. soldier died in an ambush attack.

Belleayre Ski Resort sits west of Exit 19 on the state Thruway in Ulster County. It is a state-owned ski area, and its future, along with a proposed neighboring resort and spa, has become a bone of contention for some, a sign of the times for others and some don’t know what to make of the whole proposal.

Neither rain, nor snow nor gloom kept marchers from their appointed rounds through Wappingers Falls on March 1 for the 13th annual Dutchess County St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer has invited developer Martin Ginsberg to join the 2009 Quadracentennial Committee. Ginsberg, a history buff whose Hudson River waterfront projects have won accolades – and created some dissention – added a walkway, sculpture garden and new ferry dock to his Harbors at Haverstraw project.

As if the economy wasn’t hurting enough, retailers hoping to lure buyers with sales on Lincoln’s Birthday got socked with a snow and ice storm that turned the Hudson Valley into a skating rink.

It’s the largest town in Orange County, and it’s got its share of problems: traffic, empty storefronts, lots of new construction that sits on hold. At times, it is a community divided by religious and lifestyle tensions between the townsfolk and the all-Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel, one of three villages within the town proper.

You don’t need to go to France to find a world made for lovers. Just visit the Hudson River Valley, where New Paltz-based photographer Michael Gold found the perfect heart-shaped symbol of Cupid naturally growing at Liberty View Farm. This year also brings us a Leap Year, when it’s the ladies’ turn to get on bended knee and propose to that special someone. (If he says no, you can always use the knee for another purpose!)

Tomorrow’s “Super Tuesday” and you know what that means: Democratic and Republican caucus members will choose their respective candidates. Those who chose not to enroll in either party don’t get a chance to voice their choice. Unhappy? Call your elected officials and let them know.

Government closed down last Monday to recognize the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum spent the day giving children a lesson in diversity in its new miniature city, “Rivertown.

A sign on Route 94 points the way to the street that once was the hub of Chester's downtown area. These days, busy Brookside Avenue (17M) has become Chester's main drag, with new hotels, new drugstores and a soon-to-be-built Lowe's coming to town, driving commercial rents through the roof for many small businesses.

The housing market may be hitting rock bottom, but people still need to eat, and malls still attract those savvy after-Christmas shoppers with basements to hold end-of-year markdowns for Christmas 2008.