Library Festival: Our fourth annual Hyde Park Library Summer Festival will be held on Saturday, August 11 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. This year’s festival promises to offer as much family fun as ever and will feature numerous performers and activities throughout the day.
Opening the proceedings at 10:00 AM will be Hyde Park’s own Kevin and Carol Becker, performing their special blend of children’s material, Hudson River songs and folk standards. They will be followed by the popular 2x2 Zoo, a petting zoo and exhibit featuring rare and more commonplace animals from all corners of the world.
In the afternoon, we will be joined by storyteller Patricia Tomlinson at 1:15. At 2:00 there will be a special treat (quite literally) when we are visited by representatives from Hyde Park’s new Kids’ Culinary center. This will be a hands on demonstration of simple recipes that kids can readily master.
The day’s events will close out with a visit by Whoopsy Daisy the Clown. Whoopsy is a popular local attractional, and we’re looking forward to welcoming her to the library.
And of course, throughout the day there will be ongoing events, including a book sale organized by our Friends Group.
As in past years, our popular canine “reading buddy” Munchkin will be on hand throughout the day. Kids of all ages and abilities love reading aloud to Munchkin who is all attentive and never overly critical. We thank owner and library supporter Barbara Deigan for making Munchkin’s services available once again. And of course, we’ll have goodies on hand for all, to say nothing of face painting and other activities for the youngsters.
Concert with Sonny and Perley: Our day’s activities on Festival Day come to an end at 4:00, but all are invited back that evening for a special free concert featuring the jazz vocal duo of Sonny and Perley who hail from the Capital District. This exciting duo offer a variety of programs. Their focus on 8/11 will be “The Great American Songbook and International Cabaret.” The concert will be held in the Library Annex at 8:00 PM. This is a free concert and open to all, but advance reservations are definitely a good idea for a program this popular.
Other Concert News: Popular regional artist Denise Jordan Finley will be on hand on August 18th to offer both a guitar workshop in the late afternoon and a concert at 8:00 PM. This versatile performer is celebrating the release of her latest CD “Hauntress,” and will be including a number of tunes from that recording as well as some of her standard repertoire as well.
Her workshop “The Organic Guitar” will be held at 5:00 PM. The fee for this program will be $25.00, which includes admission to the evening concert.
For those interested solely in the evening concert, that event will be held at 8:00 PM. General admission will be $10.00: student and senior admission will be $6.00.
And our August concert series will continue right up to the very end of the month with a special free ”summer’s end” concert on August 25th featuring Elyse Jurutka with backing by John Allers and friends. Elyse is a popular local act who has packed the house on two other occasions. These days her local appearances are rare (and almost non-existent during the academic year when she’s away at college), so be there—or be resigned to waiting until next year!
Foreign Film Festival To Be Held: We will be running a foreign film festival on a regular basis this fall, with a special preview screening to be held on August 24th beginning at 7:30. The first film in the series will be Francois Truffaut’s “The 400 Blows.” Introductory remarks and discussion will be at 7:30, with a screening to be held at 8:00 PM on that day.
Murder Mystery Tickets On Sale Now: We’re very much looking forward to this year’s annual fundraising event, a special “Murder Mystery Dinner” entitled “Murder In the Crystal Ball.” The event will be held on Saturday, September 15 in the Banquet Room of the Everyready Diner. Reservations are being taken as of August 1. A donation of $50.00 will cover both the dinner and the entertainment. The evening will also feature a silent auction.
Summer Reading Program Continues: Our popular summer reading program continues in August with scheduled regular activities and special events galore. The annual County Reading Festival will take place on Friday August 3 at Freedom Park in Lagrange at 6:30. This popular annual event celebrates the reading activities of students on all levels and throughout Dutchess County and is held rain or shine.
The end of the month will see a special Ice Cream Social for all participants in our Summer Reading Program to be held on August 28th and 6:45 PM. And our annual Kindergarten Day will be held on August 29th at 1:00 PM. This special event celebrates the beginning of school for new Kindergartners. It will consist of a special school themed story hour and craft session and is designed to get children excited about beginning their first year in school.
Defensive Driving And Point Reduction: There will be special Defensive Driving classes held on August 21 and 22 from 6-9:00 PM. This popular course offers point reduction and insurance benefits. Attendance at both sessions is required. The fee is $50.00 with a special rate (50% off) available for drivers between ages 16-21 if accompanied by an adult paying the full fee. For more information or to register, call 895-5098 or visit www.digitaldefensivedriving.com.
Hyde Park Library Writers Group to Form: Several people have inquired about the possibility of a Writers Group here at the library. We will be starting up just such a group in September. An organizational meeting for all those interested in participating will be held on Wednesday, August 15 at 7:30 PM.
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