Hein “… impressive…”
ROSENDALE – Ulster County Executive Michael Hein was on top of
the world Friday when he announced the county’s fifth straight year
of tourism revenue increases, from atop the historic Rosendale Trestle.
He was joined by local officials and Rosendale Street Festival volunteers.
Ulster County’s tourism revenue for 2014 grew to $513,885,000, an
increase of more than $8 million compared to the previous year, according
to recent figures. Annually, that half a billion dollars makes up a large
chunk of the local economy.
“The stats released by New York State are impressive and we are
proud of them; however, we are still not satisfied. We will continue to
work to attract more tourists to Ulster County which is one of the reasons
for our unprecedented $10 million ‘Building a Better Ulster County’
initiative to upgrade our infrastructure is so important,” Hein
said.
“Better and safer roads with widened lanes and shoulders are attractive
to cyclists and pedestrians, and right here in Rosendale we improved the
roadway and shoulders of Elting Road so that now the Trestle is better
connected with the downtown,” he said.
Rosendale’s Trestle, once the world’s tallest bridges, underwent
a facelift several years ago, transforming it into a miniature version
of the Walkway Over the Hudson, with scenic vistas overlooking the Rondout
Creek Valley. Nearby Joppenberg peak is known locally as “The First
Catskill,” steeped with abandoned cement mines from a bygone 19th
Century industrial heyday.
Today the quaint hamlet of Rosendale lies at the heart of Ulster County,
halfway between Kingston and New Paltz. The Trestle’s linear park,
long the visual hallmark of Rosendale, has also become one of the crown
jewels for an extensive network of rail trails, spanning from Ashokan
to Poughkeepsie. The structure is featured on the cover of Ulster County’s
latest Tourism Guide.
This weekend marks the annual Rosendale Street Festival, a two-day musical
extravaganza with six stages and 74 performers. Volunteer Briana Liggin,
27, a lifelong town resident, runs the festival’s beer garden and
courtesy tent. She said they are “doing something right, we’re
on the right track; it’s bringing a lot of new blood to town.”
Bill Brooks, who recently replaced the late Ann Gilchrest as town historian,
also runs the annual November Rosendale Pickle Festival, which draws visitors
from across the nation and worldwide. “I didn’t know a gherkin
from a dill,” he explained, noting that the first event 17 years
ago was an impromptu party for visiting Japanese dignitaries, which drew
900 attendees. Today the Pickle Festival has an average turnout of 7,000.
“The Japanese have always been a presence. We try to highlight a
different nationality each year. It’s quirky, but it works,”
he said.
