Special Team for Unique Kids in Monticello
With the motto, “Limits don’t define you; you define your limits,” Greco Sports and Activities in Monticello is running a Special Team for Unique Kids program beginning Saturday, December 7 from 10 a.m. to 12 noon through March 22. This coed program is free and is designed to be fun and challenging for special kids with unique needs from ages 8 to 18 years, with direction from Greco Sports staff and local volunteers. Each child receives a jersey and a trophy. For more information, call (845) 707-2826 or visit www.facebook.com/grecosports.
Holiday gifting fun
Here are some more festive holiday fun and unique gift ideas:
Winter Gift Sale: Saturday, December 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Hudson Valley Sudbury School, located at 84 Zena Road in Kingston. The sale features handmade items from local artists such as Cindy Hoose, children’s items, baked goods, soups and a craft raffle. For more information, call (845) 679-1002 or visit https://sudburyschool.com.
Annual Winter Faire: Sunday, December 8 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mountain Laurel Waldorf School, located at 16 South Chestnut Street in New Paltz. Highlights include an outdoor craft marketplace such as candle-dipping, musical performances, community sing-along, Star Penny Puppetry, barbecue, vegetarian offerings, sweet treats, roasted chestnuts and more. For more information, call (845) 255-0033 or visit www.mountainlaurel.org.
Blow Your Own Ornament: 15-minute appointments available Wednesdays through Sundays until January 5 at Hudson Beach Glass, located at 162 Main Street in Beacon. Open to ages 6 and up; you choose your own colors and work with master glassblowers John Gilvey or Kathleen Andersen to create your piece, which you can pick up the next day or have mailed to you, so it can cool. No experience is necessary. This is a fantastic experience for all ages, and the ornaments that our family made last year are incredibly gorgeous. Leave extra time to browse through the showroom and retail shop. For reservations or more information, call (845) 440-0068 or visit www.hudsonbeachglass.com.
Family of Woodstock needs holiday support
You might be surprised by the number of people who have been on both the giving and receiving ends of charitable support. When friends have suddenly found themselves as single parents, chronically ill or lost their jobs, Family of Woodstock helped. When a friend began the journey of leaving an abusive relationship, Family’s Washbourne House provided a safe refuge. The need is all year long. This holiday season, please remember Family and the Washbourne House during your shopping and year-end financial donations.
Family executive director Michael Berg, program director Kathy Welby-Moretti and their staff of employees and volunteers are directly assisting clients daily. Their work strengthens our entire community. To learn more about Family or to make a contribution, call (845) 331-7080 or visit www.familyofwoodstockinc.org. For more information about Family’s Washbourne House, including holiday wish lists for women and children, visit www.washbournehouse.com.
Holiday Alternative Giving Fair in New Paltz
One way to support the Washbourne House while checking off your own gift list is to make a stop at this weekend’s Holiday Alternative Giving Fair at the New Paltz United Methodist Church. Your purchases benefit non-profit organizations such as the Washbourne House or artisans who create the fair-trade items, as well as other groups whose purpose is to help others, while providing your loved ones with thoughtful, unique gifts. I think that many of us connect with local Mom Sarah Kish’s words: “If people were more purposeful about how they shopped and where they shopped, we could make a really positive impact on the world every year, and perhaps leave something a little more worthwhile for our children.”
Fair-trade coffee and tea from Equal Exchange and Endangered Species chocolate will be available. The Holiday Alternative Giving Fair also offers a variety of ways to support local and international efforts: A “Donation in Honor of” opportunity benefits organizations including the Heifer Project, Habitat for Humanity, the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) or the New Paltz United Methodist Church itself. Proceeds from the delicious and popular Cookie Walk will be matched by a donation to UMCOR. Buy One/Give One handmade items result in direct donations to charitable organizations. Purchases of the homemade jams and applesauce benefit Family of New Paltz. Luncheon purchases will be matched by a donation to Imagine No Malaria. Ecuadorian scarves and ponchos will be sold to support future mission work in Ecuador. And the following organizations will have tables: Washbourne House Domestic Violence Shelter, selling items donated by local artists; Creative Kids’ Cooperative, selling items to support the Washbourne House; Shanti Mandir, selling items for Shanti Hastkala, a women’s cooperative in India; the SUNY Student Christian Center, selling gift baskets; and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The Holiday Alternative Giving Fair takes place on Saturday, December 7 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the New Paltz United Methodist Church, located at 1 Grove Street in New Paltz. For more information about the event, to donate cookies or handcrafted goods or to volunteer, call (845) 691-1182 or visit https://newpaltzumc.org.
Elizabeth Mitchell channels Ruth Crawford Seeger in new holiday LP
Ever wish that you could carry that relaxed, cozy, fireside feeling with you wherever you go, especially during the busy holiday season? Well, now you can! All you need is the new album The Sounding Joy: Christmas Songs in and out of the Ruth Crawford Seeger Songbook by Elizabeth Mitchell and Friends. In addition to husband Daniel Littleton and daughter Storey, Mitchell is joined by Natalie Merchant, Aoife O’Donovan, Amy Helm, John Sebastian, Dan Zanes, Happy Traum and many others, including special guest Peggy Seeger.
The songs for this album were drawn from and inspired by Ruth Crawford Seeger’s American Folk Songs for Christmas. Crawford Seeger was a notable composer as well as folk music specialist whose work helped to preserve folksongs as part of our country’s musical and cultural heritage. She was Peggy Seeger’s mother and Pete Seeger’s stepmother.
The Sounding Joy contains a variety of styles with terrific instrumentation, from harmonium and mandolin in “Baby Born Today” to harmonica and washboard in “Sing-a-Lamb” to harp in “Sing Hallelu,” each song capturing a particular feel as well as instant familiarity to the ear. Listening to this music is like bringing something back that you didn’t realize that you had lost track of.
With comments by Mitchell about each of the 24 songs, and reflections by Natalie Merchant and Daniel Littleton as well as Mitchell herself, the liner notes enhance the already-excellent album. Merchant says, “Elizabeth has interpreted these folk carols wonderfully; she sweetens them a bit but still preserves some of their grit. It’s possible to hear echoes of work chants and field hollers in the call-and-response songs and low moans and whispers in the spirituals and ballads. These words, taken from the mouths of simple people, of farmhands, shop clerks and country preachers, are respectfully delivered in spare arrangements. Listen to the close vocal harmonies, the guitar, banjo, fiddle, drum and flute. These songs resonate in a deep part of us, calling out from the hinterlands of our American soul.”
The Sounding Joy is a natural fit into anyone’s musical library: soul food for all ages of mind, body and spirit. The roots style reminds me of a holiday-themed O Brother, Where Art Thou? I absolutely love this album, and I bet that you will, too. For more information or to access the link for a free sample track or album purchase, visit Mitchell’s website, https://youaremyflower.org.
Again, in Merchant’s words: “So, learn these songs and make them your own, grab your kids, sabotage your Internet connection, throw your coat and mittens on, make yourselves a parade of revelers, bang wooden spoons on skillets and dance around your neighbor’s house, bring some light to these darkest days of the year – know that you belong to this music, and this music belongs to you!”
Ashokan Center hosts Winter Holiday Festival
You can hear Elizabeth Mitchell perform some of her music from The Sounding Joy at this weekend’s Winter Holiday Festival at the Ashokan Center. The Center is also where Mitchell’s new music video of “Baby Born Today” was filmed, which you can see on www.facebook.com/elizabethmitchellandyouaremyflower. On Sunday, December 8, the family-friendly fun includes Elizabeth Mitchell and Friends with Jay & Molly, Natalie Merchant, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, Amy Helm, Gail Ann Dorsey, Byron Isaacs, Simi Stone and Happy Traum at 4 p.m. for seasonal music, singalongs and called dances. A holiday feast is served at 6 p.m. (prior reservations required), and the music resumes at 7 p.m. with more songs and singalongs with many of the same musicians, as Jay & Molly record the next edition of their public radio show, Dancing on the Air, for WAMC.
Tickets for the musical portion cost $20 for adults, $10 for kids ages 5 through 12 and free for children under 5, or order online in advance to pay half-price. The Ashokan Center is located at 477 Beaverkill Road in Olivebridge. For tickets or more information, call (845) 657-8333 or visit https://ashokancenter.org.
Erica Chase-Salerno is munching on a Sea Salt Almond Slab by Lagusta’s Luscious. She and her husband Mike live in New Paltz with their two children: the inspirations behind hudsonvalleyparents.com. She can be reached at kidsalmanac@ulsterpublishing.com.
Join the family! 
