DUTCHESS COUNTY — With children off from school and adults busy preparing for the holidays, the local libraries are providing fun activities and events, and — with most events, activities and supplies free of charge — a welcome respite from holiday commercialism.
In addition to their planned activities, libraries loan DVDs of music and movies as well as books and magazines for all reading levels. Some libraries have also created packages that combine activities or props with appropriate books, and most have board games and puzzles.
While library cards are generally not required for these events, they are free for residents. A library card makes a great stocking-stuffer for youngsters and continues to give for a lifetime.
Amenia Library
3309 Route 343, Amenia
845-373-8273
amenialibrary.org
Story Hour with Beth! (0-5 years old) — Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.
LEGO club (children and teens) — Thursdays, 2:30-4:45 p.m.
Marimba Trails: A Musical Look at Amenia with Diana Herold and friends — Monday, Dec. 18, 6 p.m.
Winter Paint Night (children 6 and up, teens and adults) — Wednesday, Dec. 20, 5 p.m.
Painting ceramic figurines, Wednesday, Dec. 27. All day.
LEGOs and Perler beads — Thursday, Dec. 28, all day.
Build Your Own Clay Snowman — Friday, Dec. 29, all day.
Millbrook Library
3 Friendly Lane, Millbrook
845-677-3611 ext. 3
millbrooklibrary.org
Holiday silent auction closing party — Saturday, Dec. 16, 3:30-5 p.m.
Art opening for Anne Pomeroy — Sunday, Dec. 17, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Chair yoga with Lyette — Monday, Dec. 18, 9-10 a.m.
Walking club at Bennett Park — Wednesday, Dec. 20, 10-11:30 a.m.
Bake and decorate wreath doughnuts — Wednesday, Dec. 20, 4 p.m.
Let’s Make Snow Slime! — Wednesday, Dec. 27, 4 p.m.
NorthEast-
Millerton Library
Main building: 75 Main St.
The Annex: 28 Century Blvd.
518-789-3340
nemillertonlibrary.org
Welcome Winter Solstice for ages 8-13 — Sat., Dec. 16, 1:30-3 p.m.
Ping pong and board games in the Library Annex — Saturday, Dec. 16, 10 a.m.-noon
Holiday wine pairings in the Library Annex — Friday, Dec. 15, 6-8 p.m. Registration required; $25 per person.
American Mahjong — Library Annex, every Tuesday, 1-3 p.m.
3D printing workshop — Thursday, Dec. 27, 6-7:30 p.m.
Noon-Day Eve party “Ringing in of the New Year” (ages 5-12) — Saturday, Dec. 30, 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Story Hour with Ms. Lynn — every Tuesday and Saturday in December, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Pine Plains Free Library
7775 S. Main St.
518-398-1927
pineplainslibrary.org
Kids Maker and Play Hour — Thursdays except Dec. 28, 4:30-6 p.m.
Accessible yoga with Chrissy — Thursdays except Dec. 28, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Tech time with Annie — Fridays, 2-6 p.m.
Mid-Hudson Youth Writers’ Workshop (for teens) — every Saturday on Zoom. Contact agallagher502@gmail.com for link and time.
Story time with Molly (babies through age 6) — Saturday, Dec. 16, 10-11 a.m.
Tai chi with Curt — Tuesdays, noon-1 p.m.
Gentle yoga with Curt — Tuesdays, 1-2 p.m.
Kids game night or movie night (alternating weeks) — Tuesdays, 4:30-6 p.m.
Story and Create Time with Ms. Samantha — Wednesdays, 10-11 a.m.
Teen nights — Wednesdays, 4-6 p.m.
Cookbook group with Lenny — Wednesday, Dec. 27, 6-7 p.m.
Roeliff Jansen
Community Library
9091 Route 22, Hillsdale
518-325-4101
roejanlibrary.org
For the Birds! — Create treats of cranberry and popcorn garlands and bird seed-covered pinecones. Registration required. Saturday, Dec. 16, 1-2 p.m.
Qigong and tai chi — every Thursday, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
English language tutoring — Thursdays, 6-7:30 p.m. by appointment
Cookbook club — Every third Saturday, 2-3:30 p.m.
Tea Time at the Library — Every fourth Thursday, 2:30 p.m.
Octagon club — Every second Thursday, 1-2 p.m.
Book club — Thursday, Dec. 21, 1 p.m.
Diversity teen group — Thursdays, 7 p.m.
LEGOs — Thursdays, 12-8 p.m.
Playtime with Tia — Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m.
Homeschool Wednesday — 1 p.m.
Storytime with Tia — Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.
Stanford Free Library
6035 Route 82
845-868-1341
stanfordlibrary.org
Yoga with Mia — Saturdays, 10 a.m. Weekly registration required.
Teens create custom buttons, keychains or jewelry using a button maker — Wednesday, Dec. 20, 6-7:30 p.m. Registration required.
Make an ornament (grades pre-K to 1st) — Thursday, Dec. 22, 3:45-4:45 p.m. Registration required.
Babysitting class (ages 10 and up) — Thursday, Dec. 28, 5-8 p.m. Registration required.
Repair café — Saturday, Jan. 6, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
On Saturday, Sept. 6, from 12 to 5 p.m., Rock Steady Farm in Millerton opens its fields once again for the third annual Farm Fall Block Party, a vibrant, heart-forward gathering of queer and BIPOC farmers, neighbors, families, artists, and allies from across the Hudson Valley and beyond.
Co-hosted with Catalyst Collaborative Farm, The Watershed Center, WILDSEED Community Farm & Healing Village, and Seasoned Delicious Foods, this year’s party promises its biggest celebration yet. Part harvest festival, part community reunion, the gathering is a reflection of the region’s rich agricultural and cultural ecosystem.
Rooted in justice and joy, the event will feature over 25 local vendors and organizations, live performances, healing workshops, family-friendly activities (yes, there’s a bouncy castle), and abundant local food. And while the festivities are certainly reason enough to show up, organizers remind us the purpose runs deeper.
“This isn’t just a party. It’s a place to build the kind of relationships that keep our food system alive,” said Maggie Cheney, Rock Steady’s co-founder and worker-owner. “We’re creating space where farmers, growers, families, and community organizers can connect, celebrate, and support one another.”
Proceeds from the event support Rock Steady’s POLLINATE program for queer and trans BIPOC beginning farmers, as well as Catalyst Collaborative Farm’s food justice initiatives. With sliding-scale tickets from $5 to $250, the organizers aim to make the event accessible to all, including free entry for children under 12 and volunteer options for those who want to pitch in.
For those who’ve attended before, it’s a welcome return. For newcomers, it may just feel like coming home.
More info and tickets: rocksteadyfarm.com/farm-block-party
Waterlily (8”x12”) made by Marilyn Hock
It takes a lot of courage to share your art for the first time and Marilyn Hock is taking that leap with her debut exhibition at Sharon Town Hall on Sept. 12. A realist painter with a deep love for wildlife, florals, and landscapes, Hock has spent the past few years immersed in watercolor, teaching herself, failing forward, and returning again and again to the page. This 18-piece collection is a testament to courage, practice and a genuine love for the craft.
“I always start with the eyes,” said Hock of her animal portraits. “That’s where the soul lives.” This attentiveness runs through her work, each piece rendered with care, clarity, and a respect for the subtle variations of color and light in the natural world.
After painting in oils earlier in life, Hock returned to art when she retired from working as a paralegal with a goal: to learn watercolor. It wasn’t easy.
“Oils and watercolor are opposites,” she explained. “With oils, you build your darks first. In watercolor, if you do that, you’re in trouble.” She studied online, finding instructors whose approach clicked, and adapted to the delicacy of the medium.
“When I’m working, everything else falls away,” she said. “It doesn’t matter what’s going on in life. While I’m painting, time disappears.”
Her studio, formerly a home office, is now her sanctuary and the pieces in this exhibition are the result of three years of that devoted studio work. While this is her first full public show, Hock previously tested the waters at a small fundraiser at Noble Horizons, where one of her pieces sold. That experience — and the consistent encouragement from her family, especially her husband — pushed her to pursue a full exhibition. With gentle encouragement from her husband and family, Hock reached out to the Town Hall’s curator, Zelina Blagden. “My husband kept saying, ‘You’re as good as all those other people out there, why not show your work?’” And so, here it is.
All paintings in the show are for sale, though Hock admits a few are priced high — not because of their size or complexity — but because she’s not quite ready to let them go. “There are a couple I’ve priced high because I’m not sure I want to part with them. But we’ll see,” she laughed. “It would be nice to support the habit a little bit.”
As for aspiring artists or anyone hesitating to begin something creative, Hock’s advice is simple: “Go for it. If it fails, toss it in the basket and start over.”
The exhibit will be on view at Sharon Town Hall through Oct. 31 with an opening reception on Sept. 12 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Light refreshments will be served.
Carissa Unite, general manager of Oblong Books in Millerton.
Carissa Unite of Millerton, began working at Oblong Books 16 years ago as a high schooler. She recently celebrated her eight-year anniversary as the general manager.
Unite’s journey at Oblong began even before she applied for her first position.An avid reader from a young age, she was a frequent customer at the store. During those years, Unite bonded with a former employee who encouraged her to apply for a position after connecting over their shared love of reading.
As a teenager, Unite enjoyed reading Ellen Hopkins, John Green and Ann Brashares. With the busyness of adulthood, she now favors the convenience of audio books. In the past year, however, she has made it a point to read more physical books.
With a preference for contemporary fiction, she raved about “Atmosphere” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. The story, set in the 1980s, follows two women who become astronauts at a time when women were not widely accepted in the field. A beautiful love story emerges between the two characters. Unite described the writing as sensational and commended Reid’s ability to tackle complex themes without them being muddied.
Unite has developed a deep appreciated for classic literature. Her two favorites are “Giovanni’s Room” by James Baldwin and “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. She was amazed by the philosophical nature of both words and the way their dialogue challenged her perspective.
In an effort to read beyond her preferred genre, she recommends the following:
“Some Desperate Glory,” by Emily Tesh, “Midnight Rooms,” by Donyae Coles and “Clear” by Carys Davies.
For Unite, the beauty of reading lies in its power to develop perspective, empathy, and compassion. Through books, readers learn that everyone is fighting different battles and no two stories are the same. She encourages people to choose kindness because you never know what someone else is facing.
Above all, reading brings Unite peace. If offers transcendence to another world, a pause from outside noise, and for Unite, it is where she feels most at home.
For anyone hesitant to being reading, Unite suggests: just do it! Read 10 pages a day and find the book that speaks to you. Any Oblong staff member would be happy to offer recommendations.
Oblong is located at 26 Main St., in Millerton and 6422 Montgomery St. in Rhinebeck.
