St. Joseph School in Kingston presents Beauty and the Beast, tea party with Belle
Got an insatiable thinker like Belle, who seeks “adventure in the great wide somewhere”? You can help this classic fairy tale come to life this weekend at St. Joseph School, with both youth performances of this musical and tea parties with Belle herself! Student performances take place on Friday, February 19 at 7 p.m., Saturday, February 20 at 2 and 7 p.m. and Sunday, February 21 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $12 for adults and $8 for children under 12. The tea parties are held on Saturday and Sunday, February 20 and 21 from 11 a.m. to 12 noon. The price is $5 per child and includes tea, cupcakes and a photo with Belle.
St. Joseph School is located at 235 Wall Street in Kingston. For tickets to either event or for more information, call (845) 339-4390 or visit www.facebook.com/st.joseph.school.kingston or www.saintjosephschoolkingston.com.
Cat Club Challenge at MAC Fitness in Kingston
If your kids like to run, jump and climb all over your sofas and chairs, why not give them a chance to show off their skills at this weekend’s Parisi Cat Club/Combine Performance Challenge? This Saturday, February 20 from 12 noon to 3:30 p.m. at MAC Fitness, your kids can learn how fast they are, how high they can jump and how strong they are, and how their speed and strength stack up locally and nationally. Ages 7 to 11 Cat Club timeslots will start every half-hour on the hour, beginning at 12 noon; and ages 12 and up Combine Challenge timeslots start every half-hour beginning at 12:15 p.m.
Elements include Eval tests, 40-yard dash, 10- and 20-yard sprint, vertical jump height, 5-10-5 shuttle, five broad hop distance and pullup. All bodies and abilities are welcomed, evaluations take approximately 45 minutes, and free snacks and protein shakes will be available. This Open House event is free and open to the public.
MAC Fitness is located at 743 East Chester Street in Kingston. To reserve an individual or group timeslot, or for more information, call (845) 338-2887 or visit www.facebook.com/parisimidhudson.
StoryFaces at SUNY-Dutchess
You’ve been warned: After this weekend, we’re all going to have to up our game the next time our kids say, “Can you tell me a story?” StoryFaces comes to the James & Betty Hall Theatre at SUNY-Dutchess this Saturday, February 20 at 11 a.m. Audience volunteers are brought onstage and face-painted, becoming living illustrations to accompany the traditional folktales and original stories being told. This fun and interactive experience is free and open to the public, but geared for families with children between 4 and 12 years.
SUNY-Dutchess is located at 53 Pendell Road in Poughkeepsie. For more information, call (845) 431-8000 or visit www.sunydutchess.edu/studentlife/studentactivities/famfest.html. Definitely take a look at the face-painting images on the StoryFaces website: https://agostinoarts.com/storyfaces.
African drumming workshop with Amadou Diallo at Seven21 Media in Kingston
The late American drummer, Layne Redmond, explained drumming this way: “Sound is power, and the first sound we hear is the pulse of our mother’s blood. No sound has a more powerful effect on our consciousness. Drumming is the musical expression of this primal power. Rhythm is a means of organizing sound into specific energy formulas to harmonize the mind and body. Chanting, rhythmic breathing and drumming form an ancient technology for directly synchronizing the mind/body complex, creating conditions for psychological and physical healing.”
Your family can experience this power of percussion with master drummer Amadou Diallo, who will play a variety of African drums, teach about West African music and culture and give your kids a chance to participate in a group drumming session this Saturday, February 20 from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., hosted by the Kingston Library but held at the nearby Seven21 Media Center, Studio A. This program is free and open to the public of all ages.
The Seven21 Media is located at 721 Broadway in Kingston. For more information, call (845) 331-0507, extension 7, or visit www.kingstonlibrary.org. To learn more about the performer, visit https://about.me/amadou.diallo.
Digital Painting Workshop at Hudson Area Library
Remember how painting projects used to be so messy when your teens were just tots? Well, times have changed: Now you can foster their creativity on the computer, and there’s no cleanup! Don’t know how to teach them? No problem; that’s what Spark Media is for. On a budget? Still no problem; the workshop that I want to tell you about is free!
This Saturday, February 20 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Hudson Area Library presents Spark Media’s Digital Painting Workshop for Youth, designed for ages 10 to 15. Participants will create digital illustrations using Wacom tablets and Adobe Photoshop software, while learning about frame composition, shading, perspective and color theory, as well as tips and tools in digital art. Space is limited.
The Hudson Area Library is located at 400 State Street in Hudson. To register or for more information, call (845) 485-4480 or visit https://sparkmediaproject.org or https://hudsonarealibrary.org/2016/02/digitalpainting.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24
Art in the Morning for Preschoolers monthly at Olana
Get ready to mark the last Wednesdays of the month on your calendar for you and your preschooler, because the Olana State Historic Site has a terrific new art program that you are going to want to attend every time! “Art in the Morning for Preschoolers” is held this Wednesday, February 24 at the Wagon House Education Center, and this month’s project is “Build a Terrarium.” Families can drop in any time between 10 a.m. and 12 noon and stay as long as they like within that timeframe to work on the project
Art in the Morning is geared for children ages 3 to 5 years, at a cost of $10 per child, and adults get in free. Why not make a day of it? Bring a lunch to eat afterwards, and pack your cold-weather gear to enjoy a hike around the property.
And while we’re at it, are you making summer plans for your youth between the ages of 6 and 13? Olana’s got you covered with “Panorama”: three weeks of unique programming from July 11 to 30, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: “Sci-Arts for Inventors,” “Environ-Science for Discoverers” and “Time Travel for Historians.” Sign up for one or two weeks, or do all three! Early-bird rates of $160 per week are good until March 14, and the sibling discount rate is $128, with additional discounts for registering for multiple weeks.
The Olana State Historic Site is located at 5720 Route 9G in Hudson. For more information, call (518) 828-0135 or visit www.olana.org.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25
College financing workshop at Red Hook’s Elmendorph Inn
You’ve made it through this far in your parenting, and now it’s time to begin the college adventure. That means taking a hard look at how to finance it. You think that you’re overwhelmed by paying taxes once a year? Try navigating the college financial world.
Well, thankfully, there’s help. And it’s free. This Thursday, February 25 at 6 p.m. at the Elmendorph Inn, join former admissions director Sandra Moore for “How Much Does College Really Cost?” presented by the Red Hook Library. You can do this!
The Elmendorph Inn is located at 7562 North Broadway in the Village of Red Hook. Space is limited, so call to reserve your spot at (845) 758-3241 or visit https://redhooklibrary.org/calendar/?mc_id=746.
Erica Chase-Salerno is now getting hat-head, but no sign yet of chemo curls. She can be reached at kidsalmanac@ulsterpublishing.com.
Join the family! 
