MILLBROOK — The community gathered to create an overflow crowd to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, after learning how to say “Happy New Year” in Chinese.
The event celebrated the start of the “Year of the Snake” while gaining greater understanding of Chinese arts and culture. The program, held at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Feb. 15, was sponsored by the Millbrook Arts Group and the Mid-Hudson Chinese Language Center.
“We’re always excited to introduce Millbrook’s children to a wider community,” said Millbrook Arts Group board member June Glasson.
Lin Fen-Lan, director of the Mid-Hudson Chinese Language Center, located in Poughkeepsie, began the program by teaching a bit of the Chinese language and explaining the cultural tradition of the Chinese paper lantern and lantern festivals held throughout China, Taiwan and surrounding Asian countries.
What observers commonly believe to be Chinese dragons, often seen in parades or cultural celebrations, stem more from the lion, seen as a mythical creature, as lions are not found in China. Some traditions have thought of the lion as a cat, all serving as inspiration for the design of the dragon with a large head and fabric body animated by human dance performers providing the legs. The dragon-lion-cat dance is thought to have the power to frighten away evil spirits.
Young dancers demonstrated their talents in interpreting Chinese dance as cultural tradition at the Chinese Lunar New Year event that attracted an overflow gathering of families. The program was sponsored by the Millbrook Arts Group and the Mid-Hudson Chinese Language Center at the Millbrook Library on Saturday, Feb. 15. Photo by Leila Hawken
Accompanying the dragon dance is a traditional cacophony of percussive instruments, gong, cymbals and rhythmic drums, the sounds filling the library space, the total effect being to keep evil spirits at bay.
Babies born in the Year of the Snake, Lin said, can look forward to possessing intelligence and wisdom, good fortune, prosperity and health. The Chinese see the snake as wise, clever and thoughtful, so that babies born this year will grow up to be problem-solvers who think before they act.
Other performances included Chinese yo-yo demonstrations requiring expert coordination, and young costumed dancers demonstrating their talents in traditional dance.
Noting that this year was the first performance appearance at the Millbrook Library, Lin was pleased to see Millbrook’s children being introduced to Chinese culture.
“We love our culture,” Lin added.
A Poughkeepsie all-volunteer non-profit since 1968, the Mid-Hudson Chinese Language Center is family-oriented where students of all ages and backgrounds come together to learn the Chinese language, culture and the arts.
To learn more, go to www.mhclc.org.
Participating students and teachers gathered for the traditional photo at the 2025 Troutbeck Symposium on Thursday, May 1.
A showing of student artworks within the theme of linking the past with the present opened the symposium on Wednesday evening. Each work of art had to draw on historical research to foster an informed dialogue between the artist and the contemporary audience.
The second day was devoted to student research presentations, showcasing teams from the region’s leading public and private schools with strong programs aimed at cultivating engaged young historians. Primary source materials and live interviews with descendants were included in the process.
Topics were divided into blocks with guest commentators providing reactive response as each block of student presentations concluded. Serving as commentators were Dr. Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Ohio State University, and Dr. Christine Proenza-Coles, University of Virginia.
Resistance in the face of oppression and stories of resilience that spanned generations formed an important theme as students presented the stories of area settlers and residents who suffered but endured.
As a sampling, The Taconic School teamed up with The Salisbury School to unearth untold stories of Boston Corners. The Hotchkiss School looked into the activities of the Ku Klux Klan in Connecticut. The Cornwall Consolidated School students stepped up with their untold stories of early Cornwall women.
Other presentations explored criminal justice — witchcraft trials — dealing with society’s “undesirable” elements, individuals in history who took action, people and movements that formed resistance, and various forms of discrimination.
Praising the work of the students, Dr. Jeffries identified a theme of resistance and survival.
“The war ended but the resistance did not,” Jeffries said. “We don’t take indigenous people seriously,” he added. “White supremacy happened in our own back yards.”
“We saw the evolution of research,” said a Cornwall Consolidated School representative. That project moved into civic engagement by the students that moved beyond the classroom.
“This is not the past; this is part of the present,” said Dr. Proenza-Coles.
A panel discussion among educators whose students had participated in the 2025 Troutbeck Symposium was held on Friday, May 2, to offer reflections on the symposium, its value and future development. Panelists from left to right were Jessica Jenkins, Litchfield Historical Society;Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason, Brown University; Morgan Bengal, Old New-Gate Prison; Frank Mitchell, Connecticut Humanities; and student representatives Dominik Valcin of Salisbury School, and Shanaya Duprey of Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Leila Hawken
The third day invited area history educators to assemble and share ideas for redesigning elements of history education, a day of reflection.
The panel included Jessica Jenkins, Litchfield Historical Society; Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason, Brown University; Morgan Bengal, Old New-Gate Prison; Frank Mitchell, Connecticut Humanities; and student representatives Dominik Valcin of Salisbury School, and Shanaya Duprey of Housatonic Valley Regional High School.
Valcin reflected on his work as a shared project within The Salisbury School, one where the inquiry would seek to find “the deeper story behind a base story.”
Duprey also spoke of process and the educational value of engaging with historical inquiry.
Each representing a profession that brings them into contact with historical inquiry, the panelists recounted tedious history classes of past decades. Jenkins described her own career as “public history.”Lamb-Canon’s experience began with choosing history electives in college. Bengal spoke of community engagement and the power of involvement with history.
“History is not the opposite of scientific inquiry,” said Bengal.
Significant discussion centered on the possibility of offering the Troutbeck Symposium model to a wider audience of school systems throughout the U.S.
“A community approach to education,” was a characterization offered by Troutbeck owner Charlie Champalimaud, commenting during a brief interview at the end of the symposium on Friday, May 2. She encouraged a push toward increasing even more the number of participating schools, their educational communities and symposium sponsors.
A string quartet opened the Bard Conservatory of Music program for Region One third grade students at Music Mountain.
After a brief introduction from Bard’s Mira Wang, the first item on the program was a string quartet, playing a piece by Haydn.
The students also heard a solo rendition of medieval songs played on the alto trombone, an unusual instrument.
The annual third grade concert is a tradition that stretches back decades at Music Mountain. It’s a treat for the children, and for the music students, who get to experience the incredible acoustics of the Music Mountain concert hall.
Two flutists performed later in the show.Patrick L. Sullivan
