Yuletide Tea at Wilderstein this Saturday
If you are responsible for some of the 50 billion cups of tea that Americans drink each year, you might appreciate Wilderstein’s Yuletide Tea this weekend. On Saturday, December 8 at 1 p.m., enjoy a Victorian Era tea with finger sandwiches, cakes and cookies while listening to a talk by Cynthia Owen Philip, author of Wilderstein and the Suckleys, surrounded by the splendor of the decorated mansion. Admission costs $30 for adults and $20 for children. Wilderstein is located at 330 Morton Road in Rhinebeck. For reservations or more information, call (845) 876-4818 or visit www.wilderstein.org.
Bard Math Circle at Kingston Library this Saturday
If you have trouble doing math, including keeping up with your children’s homework, you’re not alone. I love Dave Barry’s anecdote about forgetting how to do some basic addition at the bank: “For some reason, I could remember that pi is the ratio of circumference to diameter, but that did not help me in this case. (To be honest, it has never helped me.) But addition had leaked out of my brain, along with subtraction, multiplication, long division, the ‘cosine,’ the Smoot-Hawley Tariff and most of the other things I learned in school, although of course my brain has carefully preserved the jingle for Brylcreem hair ointment.”
Bard Math Circle to the rescue! On Saturday, December 8 from 1 to 3 p.m., the Bard Math Circle visits the Kingston Library for some math fun for middle school and upper elementary students. Participants do puzzles, play games and solve math problems. The Circle’s goal is to help students strengthen critical thinking skills and make math fun!
This program is free and open to the public. The Kingston Library is located at 55 Franklin Street in Kingston. For more information, call (845) 331-0507 or visit www.kingstonlibrary.org.
Mrs. Claus Holiday Celebration this Saturday at DCCC in Poughkeepsie
We’ve all heard that Santa Claus is coming to town, but now it’s Mrs. Claus’s turn! On Saturday, December 8 at 11 a.m., the Family Festival Series at Dutchess County Community College presents “The Mrs. Claus Holiday Celebration.” Designed for parents and their children ages 4 to 12 years, this event is free and open to the public, presented in the James & Betty Hall Theatre. Kids will love hearing the stories, singing holiday songs and dancing with the Sugarplum Fairies in this jolly Christmas show.
Dutchess County Community College is located at 53 Pendell Road in Poughkeepsie. For more information, call (845) 431-8000 or visit www.sunydutchess.edu. To learn more about the performer, visit www.kitsinteractivetheatre.com.
Photos with Santa in Colonial dress in New Paltz
You can get photos with Santa throughout the Hudson Valley, but if you want to do it on the oldest street in America with its original houses, then mark your calendars for “The Quintessential Holiday Experience: Photos with Santa” happening this Saturday and Sunday, December 8 and 9, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sessions take place in the 1705 DuBois Fort Visitor Center. When you go, take a look at the street side of the building: I love that you can make out each number 1705 in the corners.
Professional Leyla Cadabal will photograph families and children in the decorated fireplace room with Santa dressed in vintage costume, with refreshments and holiday music adding to the atmosphere. The cost is $15 per sitting. The DuBois Fort Visitor Center is located at 81 Huguenot Street in New Paltz. For more information, call (845) 255-1660, extension 105, or visit www.huguenotstreet.org. To learn more about the photographer, visit www.leylacadabalphotography.com.
College Youth Symphony performs this Sunday in New Paltz
The College Youth Symphony brings together some of our area’s best young musicians and gives them a chance to play – and us a chance to hear – some fabulous works. This Sunday, December 9 at 7 p.m., its concert will consist of Fantasia on Christmas Carols by Ralph Vaughan Williams, which will be performed with the SUNY-New Paltz College-Community Chorale and baritone Kent Smith; the “Overture” to Die Meistersinger by Richard Wagner, a piece that I have enjoyed since my own youth orchestra days; and selected works for wind ensemble.
My favorite part of this concert? The fantastically talented Alex McLaughlin, whom I’ve heard play since he was just a little guy. Give your family an authentic concert experience listening to other young people performing, and let Alex inspire them to pick up an instrument or take their own musical journey to the next step.
Tickets cost $8 for general admission, $6 for seniors and $3 for faculty and students. The Julien J. Studley Theatre is located in the Old Main Building at SUNY-New Paltz, located along Plattekill Avenue in New Paltz. For more information, call (845) 257-3872 or visit www.collegeyouthsymphony.org.
Join the family! 
