That’s where New Paltz Flood Aid comes in. The good news is that a group of community volunteers has coalesced on short notice to raise funds for the most heavily impacted farmers in our area, as well as for people whose homes were flooded and the first responders who intervened during and immediately after the storm. The New Paltz Flood Aid Planning Committee, consisting of Steve Casa, Butch Dener, Theresa Fall, Judy Ness, Debbie Rauch, Ben Resch, K.T. Tobin and Jason West, has announced that it is organizing two outdoor concerts during the month of October to solicit donations — and presumably to lift everyone’s spirits in the process.
The first and smaller of the two concerts is described as a “potluck fundraiser” and will spotlight local bands including the Love Taps, Ratboy, Seth Davis, SnowBear, the Sweet Clementines and the Bubba Band. It will take place at the Water Street Market on Sunday, Oct. 2 from 4 to 9 p.m. It will be delayed until Sunday, Oct. 9 in the event of serious rain. Anyone in the community can attend, but the suggested donation is $20. Local chefs will be preparing local food, and there will be raffles of gift certificates and other goodies contributed by local businesses. If you want to help but can offer more in time and effort than in financial assistance, there will be sign-ups for volunteer opportunities.
Purely by coincidence, before anyone had any inkling that Hurricane Irene had the Wallkill Valley in her crosshairs, the Village of New Paltz passed a resolution designating the first week of October the first-ever “New Paltz Local Food Week.” So the Oct. 2 concert will kick off not only the New Paltz Flood Aid fund drive, but also what promises to be a festive annual event celebrating the contributions of our local farmers.
The second benefit concert is an all-afternoon affair scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 16 at Hasbrouck Park and will go forward rain or shine. This event will feature performers of wider renown, including Alexis P. Suter. Drawing on his past association with Levon Helm and the Band, Butch Dener is organizing an ad hoc group that he’s calling The Flood Aid All-Stars, consisting of Steven Bernstein, Randy Ciarlante, Byron Isaacs and Jim Wieder. Other bands confirmed to date include Ratboy Jr., Mark Sager and the Black Horse Riders, the Trapps, Casey Erdman and Friends, the Greyhounds, Mr. Roper, Joobeco, the Connor Kennedy Band, Conuco Farm’s Hector Tejada, the Bow Thayer Band and Patrick Carlin (who happens to be the late comedian George Carlin’s brother). Other names may yet surface in the intervening weeks; “We were inundated by people volunteering to play,” says the Planning Committee’s Theresa Fall, who is also the community event coordinator for the Water Street Market.
