Things around town are slowly opening back up and each reopening gives us a heartfelt glimpse of our “back to normal” lives we all have been craving.

Our seasonal visitors are here on their motorcycles and although most of the camps along the River are not open yet our new folks seem to be here a little on the early side.

I love this transitional time of year when you know the hummingbirds are back, and you go to bed and the next morning the grass seems to be three inches higher.

Last weekend was another spark as Lou Monteleone opened his Pizza Piazza in Eldred. With the tables and chairs and umbrellas in place, people were seated in the piazza so happy to be there and enjoying Lou's wonderful food.

My friend and I had a meatball pizza, and it felt fabulous to be outside in the sunshine having my favorite comfort food. Lou told me this is his twelfth season on the Piazza. The hours of operation remain the same: Fridays-3:00pm to 8:00p.m., Saturdays Noon to 8:00p.m. and Sundays Noon to 7:00p.m. For more information or to order call (845) 557-3321.

Looking around to see what is coming up soon, I noticed that Bethel Woods has booked a few concerts, and I am sure there will be some more to come. I saw on their site that they will be holding a Community Day on Saturday, May 29th from 11:00a.m. to 5:00p.m. during the Memorial Day weekend. The weekend admission to the grounds and the Market will be free.

I have been to the Market several times and it is a creative mix of offerings from local farmers, food purveyors and artisans. On Community Day there will be a demonstration of printmaking, and you can try your hand at making those groovy psychedelic marbleized prints everyone loves.

With family and friends beginning to visit the area, this is a great event to take them to and enjoy a day outdoors in one of our County's most beautiful surroundings. For more information go to www.bethelwoodscenter.org.

The Cornell Extension's website has a listing of All our County's social service agencies, food programs and pantries. I did notice that they had not included our marvelous St. Anthony's Pantry that has been in continuous operation for nearly a decade and is managed by Margie Granese and her hard-working volunteers.

I plan on contacting them about this omission and to see if they plan on holding their annual Soil Conservation Program's shrub, tree, and garden supply sale in the Fall. What I did see on their site is an interesting listing from the Grace Johansen Memorial Foundation's “Grace Grants”.

The Foundation has grant opportunities for young people working on projects to make their community a better place or any organization interested in creating service opportunities for local young people. The Grace Grants are up to $1,000 and the deadline has been extended until June 1st.

The Foundation honors Grace Johansen who was born and lived in Narrowsburg and dedicated her life to volunteerism and community service. For more information about the Grace Grants go www.gracejohansenfoundation.org.

As a follow-up to my article last week, I want to congratulate Candy Bott of Highland who reached her ALS Foundation goals and walked one hundred miles during the month of April on our roads and on her treadmill. She also raised $1,100.00 for the Foundation.

Congratulations to Candy and everyone who supported her challenge.