Essex, New York Guide and Community Blog
Join Mary Beth Coudal for a three-day writing retreat in the historic Georgian manor house, Skenewood, in Westport, New York, to focus on your writing and your art from May 16 to May 19, 2013. View pictures of the historic manor house, Skenewood. You gather for workshops and hands-on exercises and discussions. You retreat to work [...]
The winners of the Fall 2012 Champlain Area Trails (CATS) writing contest have been announced! Julia Dixon‘s A Coon Mountain Hike is the overwhelming winner of the online people’s choice award, and the grand prize goes to Paula Castner for The Experiment. Congratulations to Paula Castner, of Lancaster, Massachusetts, won the $500 first place prize in the Champlain Area Trails Travel Writing Contest. [...]
This season’s Champlain Area Trails Travel Writing Contest submissions are in, and now it is your job to read through the entries and vote for your favorite. Writers have created informative short stories about adventures they have undertaken on one of the Champlain Area Trails (CATS) and other local natural or community sites throughout the Champlain Valley. [...]
It’s time again to get your entries ready for the Champlain Area Trails (CATS) Travel Writing Contest! This is the third CATS writing contest, and let’s try to always make the entry pool larger than the last and share more wonderful local stories. Read past contest entries for inspiration, then get out there to explore and have [...]
The second Champlain Area Trails Travel Writing Contest has ended, and the winners were announced at the annual Celebrate CATS event which was hosted by Steven Kellogg at Blockhouse Farm in Essex, New York on Saturday, June 2. The morning started with rain but gave way as the day worn on. By 4:00 pm when [...]
Jen Zahorchak‘s essay “Turtle Crossing” is a humorous, informative and entertaining entry in the Champlain Area Trails Travel Writing Contest. Zahorchak and her family moved to the Champlain Valley to get away from the negatives of city life and get closer to nature. She remarks that a turtle crossing sign helped them make the decision that their [...]
“Patchwork Community” is another entry in the Champlain Area Trails Travel Writing Contest. In her essay, local Rebekah White describes some of the spectacular sights that can be seen while hiking Coon Mountain. She also mentions some wonderful places that are culturally unique to our Champlain Valley towns including the Depot Theatre, Sportsman’s Diner, Meadowmount School of Music, [...]
“One Music” by Bob Rich is an essay about Split Rock Mountain that is a contender in the current Champlain Area Trails Travel Writing Contest. I find it to be a well-written essay with beautiful prose that is very striking. Nature’s Music at Split Rock Rich talks about the geological history of Split Rock Mountain including a [...]
Kyle M. Page is another contestant in the Champlain Area Trails Travel Writing Contest. His essay ”Exploring Connections by Roads, History, and Ice Cream“ takes the reader on a journey though the Champlain Valley. He begins by writing about the CATS trails system and the beautiful Black Kettle Nature Trail in particular. He then mentions a bit about [...]
The Champlain Area Trails Travel Writing Contest entry, “Falling in Love” is not the story of a romance between two people, but two people falling in love with the Champlain Valley. Jean McMahon and her husband vacationed in Willsboro upon hearing advice that this area of the Adirondacks was a beautiful ‘undiscovered jewel.’ After only one visit [...]
