Hi Friends,
Hello from the beautiful Jersey Shore! Ordinarily I would advise folks not to broadcast that they aren’t home, especially when they have a whiskey collection like mine. Fortunately, my nearest neighbors are a retiree from Southie and his wife who went to middle school with most of the Sheriff’s Department, neither of whom are to be fucked with. (🥃 C&D, xo.)
In last week’s newsletter I talked about the urgent search for community that came out of a Reddit discussion about kid-free events, and events for kid-free people. Whether it’s on Reddit, in the responses to the subscriber survey, or just in conversation, it feels like everyone is trying to make friends. Or to borrow some clickbait from the loneliness epidemic discourse, no one knows how to make friends.
And yet, people do have friends! You, dear reader, are pretty likely to have a couple friends.
This week I shared two specific things I did to make friends, one easy and one hard mode. (Tl:dr, you’re reading one of them. Gotcha!) I encouraged people in the Hudson Valley subreddit to share their own real life stories, since I think we’re all sick of the “just get out there, champ” advice.
If you have a real life story about making friends in the Hudson Valley, share it here. At some point I may open up commenting on the web versions of the newsletter to create a dedicated M&L discussion. For the moment, I think it’s actually better to invite in the broader community.
Sponsored by our friends at Boutique Wines, Spirits and Ciders
KESTREL BOURBON FROM NAUTI SPIRITS
New Jersey is underrated for many of the things it produces: iconic tomatoes, a bizarre wealth of accents, the best bagels (fight me!!), and small, feisty little critters like kestrels and me, your humble author.
If you, like many a New Yorker, are heading down the shore this summer you may be hard pressed to find expressions of local agriculture outside aforementioned tomatoes. Maybe strawberries, if you time it right. The Garden State doesn’t readily deliver on its moniker in tourist areas, especially in the wine and spirits department.
Nauti Spirits is putting in the work to change that. (Pronounced like naughty, for those who don’t get the nautical reference.) This tiny and mighty farm distillery is producing all of the grains for its whiskeys, plus the corn and sweet potatoes for vodka, on its preserved farmland in Cape May County.
On my first visit during a washed out beach day, my hopes were not high. However! A tiny bottle of whiskey was perched on a high shelf, calling to me.
Nauti’s first whiskey, Kestrel, is as small, light and elegant as one would hope. For being aged only 8 months, it pulls through a sweet but balanced oakiness with none of the moonshine burn that I was expecting. Despite being aged on the coast and mixed with local water, it doesn’t present any of the salinity you find in some scotches or JJ Cory Irish whiskey, known for its clifftop rackhouse. Whether that’s a bug or feature is a matter of taste.
If you find yourself headed towards Exit 0 this season, I hope you’ll seek out this rare opportunity to drink local with your feet in the sand.
Thursday, June 11
TROUTTORIA Pop-Up at Stumble Out in Livingston Manor — Stumble Out closes the regular menu while Katie and Matt take over with a Roman Trattoria pop-up — deep wine program, 15+ varieties, fresh local ingredients. Walk-ins only, June 11–13, 5–10pm.
Paris Is Burning: Screening & Discussion at Newburgh Free Library in Newburgh — HV Charm screens the 1990 documentary that defined ball culture and changed how the world understood queerness, Blackness, and chosen family. This film is REQUIRED VIEWING and you will immediately understand so much. Free, RSVP required. Doors 5pm, film 5:30pm.
Folk Refillery UIDN Benefit at Folk Refillery & Supply in Kingston — A benefit evening for the Ulster Immigrant Defense Network — shop the refillable goods and put your dollars to work for an org providing safety and support to immigrants regardless of status. $20–$30. 6–7pm.
Of a Certain Age: Stephen Honicki Artist Talk at Hudson Valley LGBTQ Community Center in Kingston — Photographer Stephen Honicki discusses his series documenting gay male elders in the Hudson Valley. Fifty-plus years of LGBTQ+ rights and visibility through portraiture and oral history. At the Apuzzo Gallery, 300 Wall St. Free and all are welcome.
Friday, June 12
UNTAMED: A Wild & Cosmic Adventure Through Dance at The Ellis in Newburgh — Passion the Adult Dance Studio and Savage Sanctuary bring UNTAMED to The Ellis, a full theatrical dance production set in a wild cosmic landscape. Four shows over two nights (Fri 6PM & 9PM, Sat 4:30PM & 7:30PM) in one of the Hudson Valley's most striking event spaces.
Queer Flash Tattoo & Dance Party at Industrial Arts Brewing Company in Beacon — BeaconLGBTQ and HV Queer Collective bring a two-part Pride event: A 6–8pm outdoor all-ages party, then 8–11pm flash tattoos by NY Speakeasy Tattoo and dancing (18+). Free.
Goth Night with DJ Laura Rose at Shorties in New Paltz — All-vinyl goth and synth night with DJ Laura Rose. Food, craft cocktails, and the kind of vibes that Club Eternal trained you to love. Come in black.
Nova Darkstar's Taking Shape: Closing Reception at The DRAW in Kingston — A survey of Nova Darkstar's work from 2020–2025 spanning their MFA and coming-out: Sculpture, video, collage, painting, and live music from The Invisible Band.
Saturday, June 13
Flowers & Fenders in Wassaic — These are the folks who did the beautiful flower installation at our Wheels & Whiskey event in April. Classic cars and locally grown flowers take over Main Street for a morning market. New this year: a road rally through the Hudson Valley before the show. Free, 10am–12pm.
Hudson Valley Fermentation Festival at Twin Star Orchards in New Paltz — A celebration of cider, wine, kimchi, pickles, cheese, chocolate, and more under one tent. I dare you to get a hangover with all these probiotics.
Crepes & Vermouth in the Orchard at Klocke Estate in Hudson — Crepes from the Sidecar on the south lawn, vermouth or NA Spritz, and a Farm & Biodiversity walk through the estate's agriculture. Space limited, $30 + tax. Noon.
Cirque du Trout: 20th Annual Livingston Manor Trout Parade in Livingston Manor — The 20th Annual Trout Parade goes full circus this year! Amazing floats, wild wonders, Best in Show float and costume contest, and all-ages fun on Main Street.
Waterfall Sessions III at Woodstock Way Hotel in Woodstock — Ginger Winn and Lost Leaders (Peter Cole + Byron Isaacs of The Lumineers) perform an outdoor concert in front of the Woodstock waterfall. Keep Good Company Records presents this one, expect a lineup built around music, nature, community, and celebrating the Catskills.
ATMOSPHERE w/ DJ Slim Corvelli at Brunette in Kingston — Slim Corvelli is back with ATMOSPHERE, the once-a-month all-vinyl listening experience with psychedelic light show in a very tiny space. 6–10pm.
Catskills Roller Disco '26 at Skate Time in Accord — The annual Catskills Roller Disco is back for its 8th year. Grab your glitter and your kneepads. Tickets are $35 and include skate rental. Sells out every year.
Kingston Techno Dance Party at Unicorn Bar in Kingston — Kingston Techno takes over Unicorn Bar for a late-night Pride month dance party. $15 advance / $20 door. Bring your people, lose your voice, dance until close.
Sunday, June 14
Woodstock Community BreakBread at Woodstock Community Center in Woodstock — BreakBread brings people together for a hosted community gathering through conversation, connection, and a shared table. Hosted by the Woodstock Center for Awakening.
Fruits First: Pride U-Pick Party at Steelbow Farm in Ancram — Rock Steady Farm throws a fruity Pride afternoon with U-pick strawberries, DJ under a dance tent, fresh baked goods from Vitsky Bakery. Sliding scale tickets include 2 pounds of strawberries. All ages welcome.
Plant & Seed Swap at Small Talk in Woodstock — A low-key plant and seed swap upstairs at Small Talk on Tinker St. Bring divisions, cuttings, or seeds you've got too many of; leave with something new. Noon.
Sorry Charlie: 2nd Anniversary Party in Kingston — Sorry Charlie turns two with a parking lot party. They’ll have a dunk tank (?!?!), DJs, cold beer, bar pies, and the Dat Dill Tho sauce back for the occasion. Noon.
Saugerties DSA 101 & Community Social at The Local in Saugerties — First-ever Saugerties chapter meeting. Learn about campaigns for public power, immigrant defense, and tenants' rights, then stay for food and a social. Free, 1:30pm. If you’re pissed, do this.
Pride Ice Cream Social at Sweet E's in Cold Spring — Queer and Now Social Club does icebreakers and sundaes at this queer-owned Cold Spring gem.
Monday, June 15
Luncheonette: Free Community Meal at Pocketbook Hudson in Hudson — Lunchbar Project hosts a free community lunch rooted in seasonal ingredients from local farms — organic, whole, and genuinely good. Show up, eat well, make friends. 1pm.
FUJI|||||||||||TA at The Egg in Albany
Whoever is running paid social at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center Corporation deserves a raise. That nonprofit runs The Egg, the weird ass brutalist building on the Albany skyline. Fresh off a 20-million dollar renovation, the Egg has had some interesting stuff happening among the many stand-up gigs, but nothing as compelling as Sunday's show.
This week, FUJI|||||||||||TA takes a stroll over from Japan to show off his keyboardless pipe organ (?) that he uses to make immense, slowly evolving sonic architectures. He's accompanied by a hell of an opener, a quartet of some of the more interesting contemporary composers working today. Lea Bertucci, Cleek Schrey, Ben Vida and Henry Fraser. I will let them explain it in MFA-speak: The ensemble investigates structural and dramatic aspects of sound and performance using amplified woodwind and stringed instruments, electronics, voice, and tape. Drawing on their individual practices as improvisers and composers, the quartet explores conceptual play alongside visceral interiority through deconstructed language and instrumental gesture. They embrace theater, absurdity, and the sublime. Sure. Why not?
Anyway I got an Instagram targeted ad for this. Shoutout to the person in their marketing department who figured out that I am this show's target audience and got the investment to fire this little shot of dopamine right into the side of my head. I can't make it but please tell your boss you did a good job and they should book more gigs like this.
MAKE LOVE THIS WEEK
Tell a stranger how pretty their dog is. Ask before petting it, though.
Cheers,
Amy
A Maker and Lover