Look skyward at the treeline around Sloatsburg and you can still see damage from the late October snow storm that blew through the Ramapo Mountains and Rockland County. Trees bent low, heavy with early season snow, snapping branches and taking down power lines. White wood from sheared off limbs and branches is still visible in trees throughout Sloatsburg. Continue Reading

Even with temperatures dipping into the low 20s during the day, the Sloatsburg Senior Center had a full house Wednesday afternoon, January 4, for their first meeting of the New Year. The expansive main meeting room was crowded with nearly 50 members. At the back of the room near the kitchen entrance was a table laden with colorful cakes to celebrate January birthdays while off to the side was the old-style raffle bin run by regular Betty Lahm. Cost to play — $1. Continue Reading

Sloatsburg — From the outside, the fitness center could be mistaken for a high-end auto or machine shop. The space looks and feels different from your typical gym — it’s wide open with high ceilings that bounce light off glossy white walls. A green turf carpet covers the floor for running, and there is a lot running. And where a typical gym is clotted with equipment, this gym has a smaller weight section, mostly free weights to focus on a full range of motion. There are power sleds for pushing, big hanging bags for kicking, medicine balls to bounce and toss, ropes to swing and climb and for resistance training. Continue Reading

A close look around Sloatsburg can be revealing, with many natural gems hidden in plain sight. Take a moment and scenes open up right before you — the ever-changing face of Torne Mountain shrouded in clouds one minute and glancing sunlight the next. The Ramapo River can run slow and murky or fast and frothy as it rushes through the village at Seven Lakes Drive. Continue Reading

Sloatsburg — Bells clanged, lights flashed and sirens rang out as fire trucks from around Rockland County gathered this past Saturday, December 17, for the Orangeburg Volunteer Fire Association’s First Annual Holiday Parade. Continue Reading

Sloatsburg Traffic Bulletin Update: Due to New York Thruway contractual scheduling, the steel beam abutment work and additional heavy construction activity on Seven Lakes Drive has been postponed until the new year. Continue Reading

Sloatsburg — Up in the wooded hills above Sloatsburg, decisions are brewing for a large swath of residents related to life in and around Pine Grove Lakes. Sewers. Fees. Roads. Waterways. Dams.

The Pine Grove Lakes Homeowners Association, a New York state non-profit organization, will hold its annual meeting Tuesday at the Sloatsburg Public Library to explore and explain some of those topics for attending members. Continue Reading

Sloatsburg — The time of year is here when firewood is finally stacked. Evening shadows come early. Decorated tree lights blink into the night. Winter winds pick up. Thursday, December 22nd, is also the shortest day of the year and the offical first day of winter. The occasion goes by many names: Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, Yule. Christmas. New Year. Celebrated since neolithic times, it’s that special moment when the Earth’s axis tilts away from the sun, creating the shortest day and longest night of the year, the significance being the gradual lengthening again of days, or rebirth. Continue Reading

Sloatsburg — Sloatsburg Fire Department trucks went racing up Council Crest to Hillside Road Thursday afternoon, responding to a sudden car fire at 6 Hillside Road. The owner had started his car, momentarily stepped back into his house, then returned to find his 1994 Cadillac smoking and in flames. As fire trucks arrived, loud booms from popping car tires could be heard in the Pine Grove Lakes neighborhood. Thick, choking smoke drifted downwind from the charred vehicle as masked firemen hosed off the car. Continue Reading

Food drive bags appeared attached to Sloatsburg residents’ doors Sunday, promoting a holiday food drive for the local UMC Food Pantry. The plastic bags make it very easy for residents to contribute without even leaving their house. Just fill the bag with a few items and reattach to the front door for pickup before noon on Sunday, December 18. Continue Reading