Kaatscast: the Catskills Podcast

"Close your eyes when you roll through town and open them when you get to the driveway," is essentially how Peter and Sarah Finn jokingly welcomed friends to their Hunter home in the mid-1990s — when dilapidated buildings and FOR SALE signs dominated Main Street.The Finns turned frustration into action, buying a rotting dairy barn and a struggling movie theater, and building what would become the Catskill Mountain Foundation in 1998. Nearly 30 years later, CMF runs a three-screen cinema, a piano performance museum, ballet and theater programs, artist housing, an organic farm, and a monthly regional magazine, and employs about 30 people. Peter's new book, Driven to Build, Guided by Values: Leading for Long-Term Success in the For-Profit and Nonprofit Worlds, traces the principles behind both CMF and FINN Partners, the global PR firm he founded.Peter and Sarah join host Brett Barry at their home in Hunter, along with CMF Executive Director Amy Scheibe, to talk through the foundation's origins and where it's headed. Topics include:The Finn family's roots in Hunter, going back to Peter's great-grandparents, who arrived from the Poland-Ukraine borderlands in 1889 (a story also told in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers)Buying and renovating the Red Barn and the old Hunter movie theater, and how conversations with Sean Byrne (Hunter Foundation), Barry Kerr, Linda Nichols, and Pam and Judd Weisberg shaped CMF's formationThe distinction between CMF (arts) and its neighbor, The Hunter Foundation (Main Street revitalization)Funding the foundation's early years and building donor relationships, including Hunter Mountain's Slutsky familyHow Peter's PR-agency background shaped CMF's multi-pronged structureCurrent capital projects: new theatrical equipment and a rehearsal/dance studio at the Orpheum (funded by a $1.75M state matching grant), a NYSERDA net-zero grant for the studio building, and new artist housing (Creekside Retreat)What's next for CMFLinks:Peter Finn's book: Driven to Build, Guided by ValuesThe Catskill Mountain Foundation: catskillmtn.orgKaatscast: kaatscast.com — full episode archive, transcribed and searchable

At a Fleischmanns street fair, a bottle with a bright red label and bold white type — Station Navy Strength Gin — stops Brett at the Skillers booth. Owner James Rooney pours a taste and explains why British sailors once needed their gin strong enough that gunpowder would still ignite if it got splashed with the stuff. That bottle leads to a drive up to Lexington, NY, to see where it's made.Skillers Mountaintop Distillery occupies a small pre-fab barn in what started as Rooney's ski house property near Hunter. Kaatscast walks us through some of the New York state laws that made a small operation like his possible — the Micro Distillery Act of 2003, which cut licensing fees enough to let small producers in; the Farm Distillery Act of 2007, which let distillers open tasting rooms and sell direct, the way wineries already could; and the Craft New York Act of 2014, which simplified licensing further and let farm distilleries sell in satellite locations. In exchange, farm distilleries have to source at least 75% of their ingredients from New York — Skillers uses 100% New York corn as the base for all three of its spirits, filling in the small remainder with botanicals like coriander that can't be grown locally.The three bottles get a full tasting. Greywacke vodka takes its name from the bluestone bedrock under the Catskills, and Rooney credits its stony, mineral edge to Schoharie Creek water that's filtered through that rock. The navy strength gin, bottled at 57% ABV, is built specifically to survive being mixed into a Negroni without landing flat. And horilka — a honey and chili spirit named for the Ukrainian word for flower (kvitka) — nods to the area's Ukrainian community, using local honey and an ultrasonic extraction process to pull flavor from Thai chilies.Gin-smith Jeff Graham describes running the still, watching a batch drip for hours to yield about 20 gallons at a time. Marketing director Todd Spire talks about the tasting room's weekend acoustic music series. And we learn that Skillers spirits are now on shelves at Elevated Wines in Hunter and behind the bar at Small Talk in Woodstock and Peekamoose in Big Indian. Next up: a Skillers Negroni made entirely in-house, which means Rooney is now considering his own line of vermouth.FeaturingJames Rooney, founder and owner, Skillers Mountaintop DistilleryJeff Graham, gin smithTodd Spire, director of marketingRic Rawlins, tasting guestMusic: "Growing Up Catskills" by Josh Roy Brown, from the documentary of the same name.

In this episode of Kaatscast, host Brett Barry visits Catskill Collectibles, a unique shop in Catskill, NY, curated by Tom Illari. The shop specializes in Catskills memorabilia, blending new creations with rare vintage items going back to the 19th century. Tom shares his journey from a finance career to running the shop and his lifelong passion for the Catskills, highlighted by his extensive personal collection of historical items. Brett and Tom chat about the nuanced relationship between the village of Catskill and the broader Catskills region, the resurgence of the area as a vacation destination, and the evolving interests of collectors and tourists alike. 00:00 Introduction to Catskill Collectibles 01:21 Tom Illari's Journey to Catskill 03:01 The Origins of Catskill Collectibles 04:57 From Personal Collection to Business 07:53 Expanding the Shop's Offerings 09:03 Showcasing Unique Vintage Items 15:38 The Community and Local Collaborations 16:56 Tom's Lifelong Connection to the Catskills 18:27 The Resurgence of the Catskills 19:22 Challenges and Future of Vintage Collecting 20:15 Customer Demographics and Shop Dynamics 21:46 Reflections and Future Plans 22:46 Holiday Shopping and Popular Items 23:35 Local Pronunciations and Community Insights 24:46 Catskill's Vibrant Main Street 26:42 Tom's Favorite Memories and Nature's Draw 28:19 How to Visit Catskill Collectibles 29:55 Conclusion and Podcast Information

Did you know the Catskill region was once tropical—and south of the equator?! In this episode, Brett Barry visits the Gilboa Museum and Juried History Center to explore one of the oldest fossilized forests on Earth. Education Chair Kristen Wyckoff shares her decades-long passion for paleobotany, the story behind Gilboa’s world-famous Devonian tree stumps, and discoveries unearthed during the Schoharie Reservoir construction, dam restoration, and creek bed fossil hunts. From lungfish and sea scorpions to the mysterious “snake tree,” we dig into the prehistoric past of upstate New York and learn how mud, minerals, and mural magic preserve a forest that predates the Catskills themselves. 🪨 Highlights 🌴 Gilboa’s tropical past—when the region was south of the equator 🦴 Fossil discoveries during Schoharie Reservoir construction 🎨 Kristen’s murals and museum exhibits 📚 A children’s book adventure through the Devonian 🐟 Sea creatures, spore trees, and sedimentary surprises 🏛️ How a generous hometown alum helped build a fossil-focused museum complex 🔗 Resources Visit the museum: ⁠gilboafossils.org⁠ Kristen Wyckoff’s children’s book: ⁠Dennis’s Devonian Adventure⁠ Learn more: ⁠The Catskill Fossil Forest⁠ by Stein, Hernick, and Mannolini 📍 Broadcast Info Kaatscast is now broadcasting a public radio edition! Saturdays at 11 AM on WJFF Radio Catskill (90.5 FM). Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and follow us on Instagram @kaatscast.

In 1985, Bob Steuding published The Last of the Handmade Dams: The Story of the Ashokan Reservoir, a historically rich account of the building of the Ashokan Reservoir—and the lives displaced in its wake. Forty years later, the book remains a cornerstone of Catskills regional history and the inaugural title from Purple Mountain Press. In this episode, we visit Bob and Martha Steuding at their 18th-century stone farmhouse near the reservoir. Literary correspondent Rebecca Rego Barry sits down with Bob to reflect on a life rooted in place, the founding of Purple Mountain Press, and the emotional legacy of a dam that reshaped a landscape—and the lives within it.