PHOTOS: Arts in Our Schoolsby Melanie Lekocevic / December 21, 2022Related Posts
Events: RCS Community Library
- Destash Your Crafts!
Thursday, Oct. 3, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Have too much yarn, fabric or other craft supplies collecting dust and taking up space? Give your unused supplies a new home with the second annual Destash/Restash craft re-homing event. Drop off your gently used or new craft supplies to share with fellow crafters. Help keep usable items out of the landfill and promote creativity. The library will be accepting donations through Oct. 11. The Restash/Rehome event will be on Saturday, Oct. 12, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Any items that don’t find a home at the Oct. 12 event will be donated to Up-Stitch in Albany. For adults and teens.
- Family Storytime
Thursday, Oct. 3, from 10-11 a.m.
Family Storytime is a fun, participatory storytime for the whole family that includes songs, fingerplays, stories and movement activities. Early literacy activities are emphasized. No registration is required.
- Opioid Harm Reduction and Overdose Prevention
Thursday, Oct. 3, from 6:30-7:45 p.m.
You can reverse an opioid overdose if you know what to do and you act in time. Whether you use opioids, love someone who does, or just care about the people in your community, it’s helpful to know what to do if you encounter someone who is experiencing an opioid overdose. To help combat opioid overdose in the community, Project Safe Point will offer a presentation that will touch on the Harm Reduction model and service delivery in the community and will conclude with an Opioid Overdose Prevention Training. Narcan kits (a safe medication that can save someone’s life by reversing the effects of an opioid overdose) will be provided at the end of the presentation. Registration at rcscommunitylibrary.org is appreciated but not required. For adults.
- Romp and Read
Friday, Oct. 4, from 10-11 a.m.
Romp and Read will help get the wiggles out on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m. with interactive themes, stories and action songs with props. No need to register.
- Chair Yoga for Seniors
Friday, Oct. 4, from 10:30-11:15 a.m.
This gentle yoga class, taught by local instructor Kelley Curran of Well & Kell, is for folks ages 50 and up. No experience or equipment is required. Join in at Senior Projects of Ravena for this series of yoga classes. There is no fee for this class. Registration is required at rcscommunitylibrary.org. Please provide an email address or phone number so the library can notify you in the event of any change to this schedule.
- A Gnometastic Fall Party!: Saturday Fun for Families
Saturday, Oct. 5, from 10:30-11:30 a.m.
This month, celebrate fall with gnomes, apples and pumpkin-themed stories, activities and a craft. There will be a special guest, and the library will crown the pumpkin-growing contest winners. Registration is required at rcscommunitylibrary.org. For ages 0-8 with caregivers.
- Fiber Arts Meetup
Saturday, Oct. 5, from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Unwind at an informal gathering with fellow yarn crafters to work on your projects, ask questions, get inspired, and just enjoy crafting in a group. Bring your own supplies. All skills levels are welcome. Join in on the first Saturday of the month. Sign up at rcscommunitylibrary.org to reserve your spot.
- Medicare 101: Understanding Medicare
Saturday, Oct. 5, from 1-2 p.m.
The Medicare annual enrollment period will be here soon. Learn about what’s new for 2025 with local expert Kristine T. Lindskoog. She will explain what Medicare is, who is eligible, and how to enroll in Medicare. She’ll also discuss the new changes coming for 2025 with Medicare and how it may affect your current coverage. She will also go over programs for people with limited resources. Please provide an email or a phone number when registering at rcscommunitylibrary.com. Unable to attend this event? Lindskoog will also present on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 11 a.m. For adults.
- Unknown Paranormal Society Presentation
Monday, Oct. 7, from 6-7:45 p.m.
Meet upstate New York’s own paranormal investigators — the Unknown Paranormal Society. The Unknown Paranormal Society is a group of historical preservationists and paranormal investigators who have been in the field since 2011. Listen to tales of the members’ various experiences at many locations all over New York and witness some of the evidence they have captured over the years. Participants are also welcome to share their own paranormal stories from the area. Registration is required at rcscommunitylibrary.org. For adults.
- Romp and Read
Tuesday, Oct. 8, from 10-11 a.m.
Romp and Read will help get the wiggles out on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m. with interactive themes, stories and action songs with props. No need to register.
- Write Together at the Library
Tuesday, Oct. 8, from 6:30-7:45 p.m.
Are you a beginning writer, or maybe working on the Great American Novel? Maybe you’re the short-story type? Prose fiction writers of all types and levels are invited to bring your notebooks, laptops or other writing implements and join in for an evening of writing together. The library will offer writing prompts, springs and quiet time for you to get ahead on your writing project, no matter where you are in the process. Registration is required at rcscommunitylibrary.org.
- Senior Cinema: ‘Emma’
Wednesday, Oct. 9, from 2-5 p.m.
Based on the novel by Jane Austen, “Emma” is a headstrong, high-spirited and privileged young woman who severely overestimates her matchmaking abilities as she meddles in the romantic lives of people in her small and sleepy English town during the 1800s. Hard-won knowledge about the intricacies of love compels her to consider her vow to never marry. Rated PG. For adults.
- Even More Drawing: Keeping It Simple and Fun!
Wednesday, Oct. 9, from 6-7:30 p.m.
Art does not have to be serious or of museum quality. In these sessions, you will draw from images chosen to be inspiring, exciting and amusing. Drawing, if you haven’t done it before, is a very learnable skill and a very relaxing pastime. It takes your brain in new directions and is a great way to begin other two-dimensional art styles like painting. Both “wet” and “dry” techniques of drawing will be introduced in this series of classes. All skill levels are welcome. Individual instruction and supplies will be provided. Local artist and instructor Thomas Baldovin will return to the library to offer these classes. There is no fee for this class. Registration is required at rcscommunitylibrary.org. For adults and teens ages 16 and up.
- Family Storytime
Thursday, Oct. 10, from 10-11 a.m.
Family Storytime is a fun, participatory storytime for the whole family that includes songs, fingerplays, stories and movement activities. Early literacy activities are emphasized. No registration is needed.
NEW FICTION
“Identity Unknown” by Patricia Cornwell
“In Too Deep” by Lee Child and Andrew Child
“The Boyfriend” by Freida McFadden
“Murder Island” by James Patterson and Brian Sitts
“The Grey Wolf” by Louise Penny
Hundreds of U.S. flags retired in ceremonial burning
By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
RAVENA — Hundreds of U.S. flags were burned in a ceremonial retirement service outside VFW Post 9594 on Wednesday.
The VFW Post and its auxiliary co-hosted the ceremony to put to rest old and tattered flags that are no longer serviceable.
“They are retired because of the condition of the material of the flag. It should be brand new,” said Commander Mike Kindlon of VFW Post 9594. “Even if you fly the flag at home, you have to take the same care and respect that would be done at an official building. It’s a responsibility of owning the flag. It’s a symbol of our great nation and if we treat it as such, I think it brings us together as a community.”
Veterans, community members, Scout troops and the Honor Society from RCS High School joined with the Ravena and Coeymans fire companies to properly dispose of the flags.
“The Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and members of the community will fold the flags, they will hand them to us and we will set them on fire to be retired,” firefighter Tyler Searles with the Ravena Fire Department said.
After Kindlon explained to the crowd the purpose and process of properly retiring a worn flag, children lined up for a civics lesson on how to properly fold the flag. Then everyone recited the Pledge of Allegiance and handed the folded flags to members of the two fire departments who, wearing appropriate fire gear, placed the flags onto a fire.
Firefighter Connor Dottino with the Coeymans Volunteer Fire Company helped perform the ceremony in 2021 and again this year.
“It’s nice to show that the community still appreciates patriotism and respects the flag,” Dottino said.
“Normally when you retire a flag, you can ceremonially burn it unfolded — it’s OK to do that,” Kindlon said. “But we fold them to teach the kids and the community the proper way to fold a flag so that way, they get the best of both worlds. They get the retirement ceremony and they learn how to fold a flag. And they learn that a flag is not just a piece of cloth — it is a symbol of freedom, it is something that should be important and should be passed from generation to generation. So we take the opportunity to involve the community and teach the children the proper way to have the ceremony.”
The proper disposal of a U.S. flag is outline under federal law in U.S. Code 4, he added.
The VFW and auxiliary teamed up to hold a similar ceremony last year. This year, there were about 300 flags awaiting retirement.
“If you don’t keep this going, the kids will lose the procedure and what the flag means,” VFW Post 9594 Auxiliary President Joseph Eissing said. “You see too much negativity on TV with the burning of flags and they see that and don’t understand what the flag stands for, but all these men and women have fought overseas and they deserve the respect for the flag.”
Town Supervisor George McHugh, a U.S. Army veteran and VFW member, said it was good to see young people learn the proper procedure for disposal of a worn flag.
“As a veteran it does my heart good to hold these ceremonies and have the community come out and show the respect and dignity to the flag retirement that it deserves,” McHugh said. “What really does my heart good is to see the young children. They are not going to understand these traditions and values if not for these types of ceremonies.”
Auxiliary member Cindy Rowzee said coming from a military family, the flag has special meaning for her.
“I remember when I was a kid, my dad was in the military and every day at 5 o’clock, the national anthem would play and you would stop whatever you were doing and face towards the closest flag,” Rowzee said. “It’s a wonderful symbol of our country.”
For Village Ambassador Rebecca Shook, the ceremony is a way to show appreciation to veterans for their service.
“I think it’s a special way to say ‘thank you’ to all of our brothers and sisters at arms who managed to sacrifice their very own lives not only to save our home, but our country as well,” Shook said.
