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Brought to you by PlanPutnam.Org PlanPutnam's Annual Fund Drive: Day 13 <- Click Here Good Friday Morning,
15.6 degrees this sunny, crisp Friday morning as we gear up for the coming weekend.
 The Journal News has finally picked up on the Patterson story (a day late, as usual), a Federal Court has denied Royal Dutch Shell permission to drill for oil in Alaska because the Interior department failed to create an environmental assessment for the project. The MTA is announcing service cuts and fare increases. Unemployment has climbed over 6% across the nation. Congress told US Automakers to do their homework and come back with a plan to get out of the deep doo-doo they put themselves into. Today is the American Cancer Society's "Great American Smokeout". And, that blue in the weather image is... snow! With all that going on, why don't you take a break and get out of of your house, away from the boob-tube and computer and do something... different.
 If you're looking for a hike, look to PlanPutnam's Outdoor Recreation Guide. If it's something more 'cultural', look below.
And don't forget to check out the blog. It's a happenin' place. There are items and stories posted there which do not appear in this column so go visit, sign up (if you want to post or comment on posts) and bookmark the page. Or sign up for the RSS feed and it will all come down magically to your computer.
See you on Monday!
Friday: Eleven One Act Plays by Karen's After Dark Collective of Playwrights.
Shows Fri. 8 PM, Sat. 2 PM and 8 PM, Sun. 2 PM. "Of, By and For the People" by Mark Jacobs will be included in the Fri. night and Sat. Matinee. Written and directed by Mark Jacobs. FREE (donations gratefully accepted). No need for reservations. At The Hudson Valley Cerebral Palsy Center, 15 Mt. Ebo Drive South, Brewster. Call 845-832-7243. Click here for a flyer.
Little Shop of Horrors
Mahopac High School 421 Baldwin Place Road Shows tonight and Saturday at 7PM. Tickets are $7.
Saturday: November 22nd and 23rd Annual food drive for the benefit of Putnam Community Action Program
On Saturday and Sunday, November 22nd and 23rd, Concerned Residents of Carmel & Mahopac will hold its annual food drive for the benefit of Putnam Community Action Program. CRCM volunteers will collect food in front of two area supermarkets to provide enough food for Thanksgiving dinners for hundreds of needy residents of Putnam County. We are seeking volunteers, children and adults, who can give at least two hours of time to this very worthy cause. If you are able to participate in this important community service event, or would like further information, please call Jerry or Judy Ravnitzky at 628-6681. 9:45 a.m. Black Rock Forest Hike About 10 miles Moderate Hike. Joint with ADK and AMC.
Start at Mineral Springs Falls and enter the forest at its southwest corner for views from Eagle Cliff, Spy Rock. Rain may cancel. Call Leader if in doubt. Meet at the Black Rock Fish & Game Club parking area on NY Route 32 in Orange County at the junction of Angola Road/Pleasant Hill Road. Leader John Kolp, 845-496-1731
ARTED Exhibit: The Reflectionist - 1 to 4 pm Open House
At the Cultural Center on Lake Carmel (the old firehouse on Route 52 just south of the Route 311 causeway) Students of Alexander Shundi offer an exhibit where the artist and the viewer engage in dialogue. Have you ever wanted to ask of an artist “What were you thinking?” This unique exhibit offers a chance to engage in dialogue. Artists will write about their experience in creating an art work by answering a question, and the viewer can write back at the exhibit to question, comment or suggest. This way the artist and the viewer learn more about the creative process and its impact on others. The artists are all students of Alexander Shundi at Arts on the Lake and range from beginners to professional artists. Many have been in the group for 10 or more years.
Ed Note: It's a really great show.
PlanPutnam's Annual Fund Drive <- Click Here
8 p.m. Blue Horse Repertory reading of a new play, The Foot Shooters, by Paul Coleman.
At Arts on the Lake (The old firehouse on Route 52 in Lake Carmel)
In the The Foot Shooters, a group of bright misfits band together to try to help one another finally become successful and happy. But a series of mishaps, miscues, and misapprehensions turns their aspirations into riotous desperation. The Foot Shooters is a poignant comedy and a calamitous love story involving a manic Broadway producer, two bakers, and oddball court reporter, a lovable but befuddled composer and...a ghost? Written by Paul Coleman, this play will warm you and tickle you, and reveals that what matters most in life can't be measured by anything other than love. Donation: $10 ($9 members) Reservations: rsvp@artsonthelake.org
 Flamenco Guitarist Alan Goodman - 8:00 PM
For the monthly guitar and ukulele fest! Have a drink and a good meal and a great listen... Cafe Mozart - 308 Mamaroneck Ave. Mamaroneck, NY 8:00 PM until his fingers get tired, usually around sunday morning! Oh, and it's FREE!!!
Sunday:  11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.: Millbrook Mountain Hike - Minnewaska State Park - New Paltz
This four and a half mile round-trip hike will wander over both carriageways and footpaths, giving participants a chance to intimately observe nature's changes from fall to winter. On Millbrook Mountain, hikers will stand above the raptors and look down on the lush Hudson Valley from the top of the magnificent white cliffs so often seen from below. Please meet at the Minnewaska Preserve Nature Center.
ARTED Exhibit: The Reflectionist - 1 to 4 pm.
Students of Alexander Shundi offer an exhibit where the artist and the viewer engage in dialogue. Have you ever wanted to ask of an artist “What were you thinking?” This unique exhibit offers a chance to engage in dialogue. Artists will write about their experience in creating an art work by answering a question, and the viewer can write back at the exhibit to question, comment or suggest. This way the artist and the viewer learn more about the creative process and its impact on others. The artists are all students of Alexander Shundi at Arts on the Lake and range from beginners to professional artists. Many have been in the group for 10 or more years.
PlanPutnam's Annual Fund Drive <- Click Here
Chamber Music Series - Alone Together: Breaking the Mold of Classical Music Performance
 3:00 p.m. at the West Point Jewish Chapel, Staff Sergeants Jon Leonard and Denver Dill will perform a recital of modern music for trumpet. The program will include the works of Poul Ruders, Lucia Dlugoszewski, and music written by the performers. The aim of the program is to change the traditional way in which classical music is performed. The recital will be presented as a continuous performance with a performer either playing or talking from beginning to end. The audience will be encouraged to participate in the performance as well. The recital is free and open to the public.
The program will open with Poul Ruders’ work Reveille for solo trumpet. The piece is based on the traditional military bugle call played at sunrise, and is split into two parts, Reveille and Retraite. The second bugle call, Retraite is typically played at sundown. Retraite will feature Staff Sergeant Leonard playing an antique bugle. Sergeants Dill and Leonard will close their program with Retraite.
The program will include two world premiere performances. Trumpet Safari, by Staff Sergeant Jon Leonard is a four-movement work for trumpet and electronics. The Lesson was written jointly by Staff Sergeants Denver Dill and Jon Leonard.
Please allow extra travel time for the 100% vehicle and photo I.D. inspection at Stony Lonesome and Thayer gates. Due to changing security requirements at West Point, call the Academy Band’s hotline at 845-938-2617, or check www.westpoint.edu/special before leaving for the concert.
Into the Future: Monday, November 24th
Putnam Valley Community Food Pantry - Organizational Meeting
We are looking for sponsors, vendors, volunteers and talents. We are also reaching out to all organizations and businesses in Putnam Valley asking for their help and support with all aspects of our fundraiser. If you are interested in assisting us in any way, please join us at a meeting on Monday, November 24, 7:30 p.m., at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church, 65 Oscawana Lake Road , Putnam Valley. The “Putnam Valley Community Food Pantry” The Food Pantry’s mission is to increase access to food for the hungry and for struggling families in Putnam Valley. The Pantry currently feeds over 110 needy Putnam Valley families. This event is a pre-planning discussion for a fundraiser for Saturday, February 7, 2009, at the Putnam Valley High School and would like to have as many organizations and groups participate in the event as possible. Some of the activities include entertainment, including a series of bands for all ages, magic shows, performances, food, crafts, a white elephant sale and much more.
Monday, November 24th The Hudson Valley Humanists will present a debate and discussion on “Human Nature and the Self” from 7:30-9 p.m., Monday, Nov. 24, at the New Paltz Village Hall at 25 Plattekill Avenue. Hudson Valley Humanists’ director, Ed Poll, debates with author, Shaun Johnston on the limitations of science in describing human nature. Poll proposes a strongly scientific view of the self: evolved via natural selection, determined and defined by the matter and energy at work in the universe. Johnston proposes that we are free to make decisions, our nature is not determined by natural selection, and there is something to human nature beyond which science can define. Audience participation in the discussion will be encouraged. Free and open to all, includes refreshments, for information: (845) 247-0098, or hvhumans@yahoo.com.
PlanPutnam's Annual Fund Drive <- Click Here
Heres a once-in-a-lifetime event coming next Tuesday you won't want to miss:
 On November 25, 2008, to celebrate the 225th anniversary of the evacuation of the United States of America by British troops, the Palisades Parks Conservancy, in collaboration with the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, Scenic Hudson, the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and Palisades Interstate Park Commission will symbolically light five beacon sites that replicate the original signal locations used by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.
These vital systems summoned the militia in both New York and in neighboring New Jersey and warned residents of the approaching British Redcoats. The types of beacons varied from tar barrels on top of poles, to pyramids, to wooden towers filled with dried grass or hay that could be ignited. The beacons enabled quick and effective communication with troops throughout the lower Hudson River Valley.
Instead of lighting fires, Palisades, the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, and Scenic Hudson will create a symbolic Xenon light display that will light up Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area from Bear Mountain State Park to Beacon. This project is also part of the larger interstate effort with national heritage area partners in New Jersey, the Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area. Six additional Beacons will be lit in New Jersey. The total project area will stretch from Princeton, NJ to Beacon, NY.
November 27 - Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving for (Accidental) Orphans: For those of you not visiting with family on Thanksgiving Day, won't visit them, can't, or don't have any, I'm holding an open house and bonfire here at the cottage that afternoon.
It's not an invite for those of you who have a place to go, it's for those who do not.
Bring along some snacks and drink and warm clothes. We'll start about 4PM and run until the fire goes out. (steady rain cancels, mist is fine, snow is great!) Even if you do visit your family, once you get tired of hearing Uncle Harry regale you with stories of his frat days - again, or your Aunt Mae gets on your nerves asking why you're not married yet - again - or your perennially drunk cousin Steven has thrown one too many beer cans at the football game on TV, you now have a place to escape to.
 November 28
Hike to Wonder Lake State Park
The Kent CAC will sponsor a hike to Wonder Lake on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Meet at 1:00 PM at the park and ride parking lot on Rte 311 and Ludingtonville Road (not at DEC parking lot on Ludingtonville Road). The hike will be lead by David Ehnebuske accompanied by naturalist Beth Herr. The trail is easy-moderate and will last about 2 hours. Call Dave at 878-7592 for further details.
Monday, December 1, 2008
CWCWC Annual Meeting
"How to Save Your Favorite Trout Stream: Prevent Agricultural Runoff by Farming Inside the City Limits." At the Purchase Friends Meeting House - 4455 Purchase Street, Purchase, NY 10577. 6:00 PM refreshments. 7:00 PM presentation
PlanPutnam's Annual Fund Drive: Day 13 <- Click Here
December 2, 2008, 5:30 pm
Climate Change and World Security with Marc Levy
In the auditorium of the Coykendall Science Building on the campus of SUNY New Paltz
(Refreshments available at 5:00 pm outside the auditorium)
Marc Levy serves as Deputy Director of the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), part of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. He will speak on climate change trends and how they impact the stability of nations and the well-being of populations.
Marc Levy has published on environmental sustainability indicators, environment-security connections, and the effectiveness of international environmental institutions. The common thread running through his work is a desire to deepen our ability to understand and manage the complex interactions between humans and their environment. He leads CIESIN’s work on climate-security connections, conflict early warning, environmental sustainability indicators, and poverty mapping. He serves as Lead Project Scientist of the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center; and was a Convening Lead Author for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. He is currently serving as a Convening Lead Author for the UN Environment Program’s Fourth Global Environmental Outlook. Before coming to CIESIN Mr. Levy had teaching appointments at Princeton University and Williams College.
No charge. Open to the general public.
Sponsored by: the World Affairs Council of the Mid-Hudson Valley
Gillespie Forum and Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach (CRREO) at SUNY New Paltz
Saturday, December 6th 2008, 10AM-5PM
WESPAC Fair Trade Festival and Trade Fair
Memorial United Methodist Church , Asbury Hall - 250 Bryant Avenue, White Plains, NY Admission is $1 and all are welcome. Lunch and homemade baked goods will be available for sale as well.
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