Catskills Cup High Up in the Mountains - A Puff Piece

EAST DURHAM — The Emerald Isle of the Catskills is about to get a whole lot greener this Spring at the first ever Catskills Cup marijuana growers competition at McGraths in East Durham! This event, scheduled for April 19th at 1PM and running all the way into 6PM, will mark Greene County’s first ever festivity centered around the cultivation of Cannabis and its farmers. “Our mission can be summed up in one word-”community” explains Christopher Reetz, a retired teacher and member of the board in charge of organizing the event. “We got the idea for all this during New Years Eve which every year we celebrate with a growers theme we call the “Cairo Cup” Chris continues referring to himself and the other members of what he humorously refers to as “The Board With No Direction.”

“We get together and compare our various strains and vote on which one we like the best”.

“It got to where we had so many different strains to sample in one night that we felt like doing something bigger with this,” says Thomas Morrissey, another member of the board and a local chainsaw sculptor known famously in the community as “The Catskill Carver.”

Tickets to the Catskills Cup and a chance to get “high up in the mountains” are limited and may only be purchased in advance by contacting the board at event@catskillscup.org. “We have never done anything like this before but I think this will be very good for Durham” says McGraths co-owner Colleen McGrath. “They really are a great group of guys and we are excited to host all the vendors and a live band.”

 “We will be switching up the menu at McGraths for the event, stuff that the crowd might be more into” says McGraths co-owner Dermot Renlon.

Chuck Goodman, a farmer and fellow member of the board has cited that they are excited to receive a plethora of home growers as well as see the local dispensaries from Greene and Columbia counties represented. “We are expecting entries from Budds Dispensary in Catskill, THTree in Coxsackie, as well as Gotham and Riverbend in Hudson” continues Chuck.

“Since most dispensaries are already lab approved, all of the home growers will have to send out for testing at the labs in Albany before being accepted as entries to the contest.”

Competing strains in the event will be judged on their appearance, aroma, effect, taste, and ash visual. “None of the lab test results will be shared with the judges since we don’t want them to know which THC levels are in which but we do want to steer clear of certain things like pesticides” weighs in the final member of the board and retired marketing engineer Timothy Schultz.

“The most exciting part of the Catskills Cup is the fact local growers can come out of the woodworks and show their skills publicly for the very first time…..legally!” cites Kiley Thompson, the proprietor of the Lazy Day Farm in Durham, one of the cannabis producers lending support for the event. “The Catskills Cup is showing how forward thinking Greene County and the Catskills are and will be.”

Shane Shultis and his partner Leslie Antoinette at “Toke a lot of pot seeds” another local cannabis producer providing services for the Catskills Cup, will be streaming the event live online at Happy Hog Radio. “I've been a certified hemp farmer for 25 years and I try to educate people on the subject as best as I can because there is more to understand in this industry then you might think starting out” says Shane. “There will be a raffle and giveaways as well!” said Antoinette.