‘Stick to Local’ launch of new map with new farms, prizes and hidden treasures

The 2018 Stick to Local Adventure Map of the Rondout Valley, celebrating its fifth year, is evolving into a more detailed and exciting map full of pictures, stickers, an array of cultural sites, places of interest and prizes. The launch party of the Stick to Local Adventure Map will be held 5-7:30 p.m. Friday, May 25, at Arrowood Farms Brewery, 236 Lower Whitfield Road, Accord. There will be local food snacks, a bubble tea bar for kids by the Den of Marbletown, and Arrowood’s farm-brewed beer for adults (cash bar). All-ages welcome. Live music will be provided by Creek Iversen’s Tinhorn Calico Farm Band with Sarah Underhill and Ben Bath, dancing by everyone. And guests will see the new map! Rondout Valley food and artisanal businesses are hot, but even the most enthusiastic locavores often miss the secret, hidden and new-this-year treasures. Now Stick to Local has done all the research, and created a treasure hunt with the finds. Thirty-seven locations are giving out free art stickers. The Stick to Local Adventure Map is a vintage-style folding map and is available free at hundreds of shops in the area, participating farms, organizations, highway rest stops and the New York Greenmarket. Tour a location; collect a free sticker; stick it on the corresponding space on the map, and then collect the rewards. Collect 10 stickers and get a Stick to Local Farms Cookbook and guest passes to Homegrown Mini-Golf at Kelder’s Farm; collecting 25 stickers wins a market bag of farm goodies, local treats and gift certificates. Collect all 37 stickers and receive this year’s limited edition silver Zephyr sticker and a chance to win a small-pool random drawing for a weekend for four at Pine Ridge Dude Ranch. The Stick to Local Adventure Map is an interactive art project created by Accord artist and author Maria Reidelbach, reflecting the collective efforts of more than 60 independent Rondout Valley farms and businesses, including: Ulster County Tourism, the Rondout Valley Growers Association, Mohonk Preserve, Ulster Savings Bank and Ellenville Regional Hospital. It is part of a nationwide grass-roots movement to support local agriculture, businesses and culture. Stickers introduced this year include Damn Good Honey Farm in Kerhonkson and the new A.J. Williams-Myers African Roots Center in Kingston. For more information, visit stick2local.com or call 626-2047.