Unison hosts Willa Vincitore
Saturday, Apr. 27: A newly honored New York State Blues Hall of Fame inductee, singer/songwriter Willa Vincitore brings her take on modern bluescraft to to New Paltz.
Almanac Weekly
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Escape room, Mad Science, planetarium & robotics at Bright Ideas Festival in Stone Ridge
Sunday, Apr. 28: Admission is free, and it’s an event offering hands-on activities for attendees of all ages. “Space” is this year’s featured theme.
Help out with the Big Sit bird count
Saturday, May 4: The ornithological equivalent of a walkathon and the John Burroughs Natural History Society (JBNHS)’s one fundraising event of the year, the Big Sit situates several birdwatchers in a 24-hour observation and identification of birds by sight and sound, raising money in the pledge-based style per bird or by straight donation.
Walking in from Arcturus
Arcturus’ light was focused through a telescope onto a photocell, which tripped the lights to start the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933.
Neil Gaiman to speak at Coraline screening in Rhinebeck
5/5: This is a not-to-be-missed opportunity not only to see the movie, but also to pepper the story’s creator with your questions.
The trail-building artistry of Eddie Walsh
“Every trail has a unique challenge, so I started to seek out techniques from other trades, whether it’s rigging from sailors or from the stone-quarry industries… The rocks I set in place will still be there until the next Ice Age. That’s very rewarding.”
Garvan’s in New Paltz to host luncheon honoring Dr. A. J. Williams-Myers
Not only was he one of the primary moving forces in the Black Studies Department for decades (and its longtime chair), he is also the former director of the New York African American Institute, a member of the New York State Freedom Trail Commission, historian for the African Burial Ground Interpretive Center in New York City and a much-published historian.
Newburgh schools’ Kristine Campbell-Defoe to teach from New Zealand
In Newburgh, where the districtwide motto is “We Are One,” a third-grade teacher with 21 years in the classroom is taking the message halfway around the globe in May.
Open Space Institute is saving landscapes and building trails in Ulster County
“The natural resources in Ulster County are still pristine,” Kim Elliman said. “Hopefully we can protect them before there’s too much upward land value. You’re protecting water resources in particular, if you build trails with less erosion and less siltation. And as studies show, the closer people live to parks, the better the quality of life.”
Baker Does Beethoven – with a lawnmower
Having previously created large-scale images of Elvis, Einstein, the Statue of Liberty and Jimi Hendrix in a field in Ellenville by expertly manipulating a lawnmower, Roger Baker fired up his push-mower by Sandburg Creek and began crafting Beethoven’s eyes in May 2016. The completed drawing on the living canvas of grass culminated in a series of performances of Beethoven’s music held on-site. Days later, as the grass grew and the dark and light areas melded together, the image vanished. It lives on in John Hazard’s new film.