| News That Matters
Brought to you by PlanPutnam.Org Good Friday Morning,
As some of you may already know, I'm about to embark on a journey to, how shall we say it, put my body where my mouth is. Things really start gearing up in April and May with the main event coming at the end of the summer and into the Fall. Because of the time required to make this journey a success I'm going to have to start dedicating some serious time, money and effort in that direction. As a consequence, News That Matters is going on an alternate publishing schedule of Monday, Wednesday and Friday between now and the end of the year. Fate is a fickle thing though, so things may turn out otherwise and we'll be back to every day sooner than that but, at 3 hours a day - on average - a great deal of personal time is spent crafting this daily column that may be needed elsewhere.
The blogsite, however is up and running, as it has been since last October and now averages about 100 individual visits each day. The busiest day was last December 3rd when I posted one of the many versions of the Tilly Foster contract and posted articles about Putnam Valley are the most read on a regular basis. February saw 2360 individual visits!
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There's a whole bunch of events going on this weekend. Get to one of them, enjoy spring!
Tonight:
Acting Class Open Workshop
8PM - It's not what you think! Think of it instead as a recital for the students of director Lora Lee Ecobelli's acting class at Arts on the Lake. Performing in a variety of short one-acts and monologues will be Jon Barb, Chris Blossy, Kathie Freston, Larry Garvey, Jeff Green, Zulie Lozada, James McGuire and Kenn Sapeta. Writer Christopher Durang's Canker Sores and Other Distractions, DMV Tyrant and Funeral Parlor and John Patrick Shanely's Welcome to the Moon will be some of the highlights. Free Admission! Write info@artsonthelake.org for more information and reservations.
ACT II
8PM - Join "ACT II" at Daniel J's starting around 8:00 to celebrate the long-awaited end of winter. The Dan is on Route 22 in Patterson at the foot of the Thunder Ridge Ski hill. Should be interesting. Please stop by if you can and hang/help out.
The Vagina Monologues 8PM - by Eve Ensler; local women perform acclaimed Off-Broadway show to benefit Project Hope - a local women's mentoring program. Sponsored by HOPE's Fund, in partnership with the United Way of Ulster County. Rosendale Theater. 845-331-4199. reins@hvc.rr.com. $25, $50 includes members-only reception.
Saturday: County-Wide Food Drive ShopRite Supermarket and the Rotary club will be hosting a long-running food drive to assist county social service organizations in meeting the increased food needs of families who have fallen on hard times. There will be a truck parked outside the ShopRite on Route 52 on the Carmel/Kent line to accept donations of non-perishable foodstuffs. More information is here.
Outdoor Gear Swap! 10 a.m.- 2 p.m. Sponsored by Scenic Hudson. Hyde Park Drive-in Theatre, Hyde Park, Dutchess County This will be a great time to sell your used or surplus outdoor gear tents, sleeping bags, etc. and pick up some new gear at the lowest possible prices. Contact: Anthony Coneski, 845 473 4440, ext. 273 More information at their website here.
AIG Cribs -- Lifestyles of the rich and infamous  See how AIG Executives live with this motor coach tour of some of their homes spread through the verdant hills of Connecticut. AIG executives are getting hundreds and millions in bonuses. Come see the houses that kind of money will buy you in Fairfield County. We're taking an AIG Cribs tour to deliver a letter about how we think we should be fixing the economy to each exec. Sign up!
10AM: Hartford Pick-up (Working Families offices -- 30 Arbor Street)
11AM: Bridgeport Pick-up (ACORN offices - 2320 Main St)
Return to Bridgeport at 2:30, return to Hartford at 3:30. Write to joedinkin@gmail.com for more information.
Vernal Equinox Celebration at Harmony Hall 2 PM - Celebrate the coming of spring with musician and noted nature photographer Geoff Welch, storyteller Chuck Stead and special guests. Geoff Welch, who is curator of Harmony Hall and Ramapo River Watershed Keeper, is renowned regionally for his musical compositions and exquisite landscape photographs of the Ramapo Pass and the highland's region. Welch will be joined by local storyteller Chuck Stead, well known for his local lore and entertaining tales. Stead, a Professor of Environmental Studies at Ramapo College, is the author of Back Porch Stories. The event is free. 15 liberty Rock Road, Sloatsburg, NY, 10974 (845) 712-5220
Great Blue 7:30PM - Great Blue is back! We're going to be making some homemade music at the Sunflour Cafe (formerly the Lighthouse Cafe) 222 Beekman Ave. in Sleepy Hollow NY on the 21st of March. See http://www.yelp.com/biz/sunflour-cafe-sleepy-hollow. Phone 914-909-5002. There is no cover. This is a small cafe -- very informal and intimate. Come out and support your local musicians. We'd love to see you.
Bugsy Malone Jr.  7:30 PM - The 1920’s will be roaring into Brewster this March as The Putnam Children's Discovery Center Players bring Bugsy Malone Jr to the stage. Show times are Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21 at 7:30 pm. at The HH Wells Middle School, Route 312, Brewster, NY. This family musical, written by Alan Parker with music and lyrics by Paul Williams, pays homage to old-time gangster flicks with its bevy of tough guys and show girls. Film fans may recall the 1970s movie of the same name headed up by then child-actors Scott Baio and Jody Foster. Intended as a crowd-pleaser for all ages, the show features a catchy, swinging score, larger than life characters, a fast-moving plot, and lots of slapstick comic moments. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at HH Wells Middle School lobby on Mar 7 and 14 between 12-4 pm, and Mar 16, 18, and 19 between 6-9 pm. To order tickets by mail call 845-621–1260 X306 or email tickets@discoveryctr.org. Log onto www.discoveryctr.org for more information about PCDC’s programs.
Elizabeth Tryon - Voice of an Angel  Classically trained soprano Elizabeth Tryon who also writes pop songs, one of which has charted in the Top 10, two others in the Top 20's, will present a pop/classical crossover concert this Saturday, March 21 at 8 p.m. that highlights composers Chausson, Puccini, Copland, and Handel, as well as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tryon's own contemporary hits. Admission is $10 ($9 for Arts on the Lake members). Tickets may be purchased on-line or reservations may be secured at rsvp@artsonthelake.org. Visit Elizabeth at her webpage.
Sunday:
Maple Open House
10 am- 2 pm, At Bowdoin Park, Wappingers. Explore both modern and Native American methods used to create maple syrup. Event is free, open to the public, and is both indoors/outdoors, will include demonstrations on tapping a sugar maple tree, boiling sap with hot rocks and by evaporator, and starting fire by friction. Syrup for sale. Dutchess County Parks, Bowdoin Park, 85 Sheafe Rd. Wapp. Falls, 845-298-4602, parknaturalist@co.dutchess.ny.us
Into the Future: Friday, March 27 Play On! A Comedy by Rick Abbot  8 p.m. at the Melrose School, Federal Road, Brewster, NY. Also, March 27 and April 3-4. This is the hilarious story of a theater group trying desperately to put on a play in spite of maddening interference from a haughty authoress who keeps revising the script. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance in which anything that can go wrong does. When the authoress decides to give a speech on the state of the modern theatre during the curtain calls, the audience is treated to a madcap climax to a thoroughly hilarious romp.
Saturday, March 28  Dave Bonan's 8th Annual Car-Free Bicycle Anniversary
10 PM - Cousin Larry's Cafe 1 Elm Street, Danbury $7 cover (includes raffle ticket) or $1 off with canned good. 21+ only, Drink Specials. Bands: Fighting Cocks, feat. Philo Cramer, formerly of FEAR, Kimono Draggin (New Haven), 76% Uncertain (CT's veteran hardcore since 1983) Info: 203-730-0035 or 203-770-8304. The raffle will include all the goodies like last year, supported by local businesses and will again include 2 10-trip local bus passes and 1 free roundtrip on MetroNorth and the atmosphere will have bike posters, bike hanging bike angels and many cutouts of Andy Singer CARtoons. Sunday April, 5 "Wild Man" Steve Brill  10:00 am, "Wild Man" Steve Brill, Americas's best known foraging expert, will be paying us a visit here at Native Landscapes and Garden Center( 991 Rt. 22 Pawling, NY). During his hands on program we will learn about the environment and how to get back in touch with nature. To quote Steve, " by studying nature and foraging, we enjoy our renewable resources, and reaffirm our commitment to preserving and protecting our renewable ecological riches." "Wild Man" will give a brief talk here at the garden center and then we will all venture onto the Appalachian Trail to start dining. "Wild Man" Steve Brill is well known in his field and has been featured on many radio and television shows, and in numerous publications. You can also visit the "Wild Man' on his web site at www.wildmanstevebrill.com. While you're here at the garden center please browse through all our native plants. Don't to forget to ask about our "American Beauties" native plant program. We look forward to seeing all of you.
October 2nd, 2009 Opening Ceremonies for Walkway Over the Hudson  NY's newest state park. Take an historic walk across the newly renovated Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge. At around 7:00 p.m. Invited guests and volunteers will gather at the East and West sides of the bridge to take part in the Grand Illumination of the Walkway, bringing it out of the shadows and into the night light of the Hudson River at its mid-point! We need 1,000 folks to play an active role in the Illumination of the Bridge and the Hot-Air Lantern release that will follow it. Folks can bring their friends and families to help them with their Lantern - so it will be a joyous and wondrous occasion for all involved. And, after the Lantern Release you and your group will have the privilege of viewing the Grand Fireworks show from eye level with the display! And, you will be one of the first to step on the bridge! And THE first to go on the bridge at night!
Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. we need ANOTHER 1,000 folks to take part in the Official Opening Ceremony. Officiated by Governor David A Patterson and his wife Michelle, the Honorary Chair of the Hudson Fulton Champlain Quadricentennial Celebration and other local State and National dignitaries, YOU will also have a role! The plan is to TIE A KNOT with two nautical ropes coming from the East and West sides of the bridge. We need folks to hold and extend this MILE LONG rope across the bridge. There will be gala bands, lots of ceremony, kites, wind socks, and a Grand Parade that will flow in BOTH directions across the bridge - and YOU will be right in the middle of it! From your high perch you will see rowing races, the Parade, a jet-ski ballet, a fly-over by the Olde Rhinebeck Aerodrome and more! Kids can be a part of this too - so you can bring the whole family.
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