Also, the Grange has a Match-Up Program, in which volunteers will help with picking up groceries and medications. To get this help, email a request to copakegrange@gmail.com or call 917-270-5989. Volunteers are standing by, ready to be of service.
No chicken now
COPAKE—The Copake Fire Company #1 chicken barbecue at the fire station, 390 Center Hill Road (County Route 7A), April 11, has been canceled.
Egg hunt off for this year
MELLENVILLE—Following the CDC’s recommendation discouraging gatherings of 50 or more people, the Claverack Republican Club has canceled the annual Easter egg hunt scheduled for April 11 at the Claverack Town Park in Mellenville.
The event traditionally draws hundreds of area youngsters, their parents and grandparents but must be canceled this year for fears of the Corona Virus.
“This is always a great event, but our primary concern must be for the health and safety of our community,” Club President Jim Keegan said in a press release. There are no plans to reschedule the hunt at a later date.
Just pop the trunk to donate food
KINDERHOOK—Kinderhook Elks Lodge, 2750 State Route 9, holds a drive-through, drop off food drive, April 11 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Anyone who has non-perishable food items they are willing to share, should drive to the Lodge, pop the trunk and volunteers will unload the donation, close the trunk and the donor can be on their way. In this way Elks will limit everyone’s exposure and keep their distance while doing what they can to help support the community.
March in online Easter Parade
COPAKE—Copake Grange #935 presents an online Easter Parade, Easter Sunday, April 12.
The parade promises bows, bonnets and bunnies.
Participants should use their imaginations to create a hat and enter it in the parade. All hats must be at least partially homemade. Children and adults of all ages, as well as pets, may enter.
Entrants should send a jpg photo of themselves, a child or a pet in their Easter bonnet to copakegrange@gmail.com. Include the name(s) of the person(s) in the photo. All entries are due by the morning of April 12. Prizes will be awarded to kids for the most creative hats. Watch the parade—all entries will be posted on the Grange website www.copakegrange.org Sunday, April 12.
Easter worship goes on web
HUDSON—Easter Sunday at First Presbyterian Church, 369 Warren Street, includes a modified prerecorded worship service uploaded to Vimeo. The link will be shared on the church’s Facebook page so that anyone can watch on Sunday morning: https://www.facebook.com/FirstPresHudson/
Folks will be gathered to watch the broadcast and worship in community via Zoom. Here’s how to find us:
Meeting ID: 437 720 480
Password: 160655
Dial In: 646-558-8656
https://zoom.us/j/437720480?pwd=STlDYVFXZlkyRTNYbnUwdXovZ3dTQT09
For more information contact the church at 518-828-4275, firstpreshudson.org; facebook.com/FirstPresHudson or firstpresbyterianchurchhudson@gmail.com
ALI programs called off for April
GREENPORT—Adult Learning Institute (ALI) programs for April are canceled.
All programs are held at Columbia-Greene Community College, 4400 Route 23. Call or email the ALI office at 518-828-4181 X 3431 or ali@sunycgcc.edu
Volunteers sought to sew face masks
ANCRAMDALE—Ancramdale Neighbors Helping Neighbors Association (ANHNA) is reaching out to find volunteers to sew face masks that will be donated locally and to organizations, including Columbia Memorial Hospital and its rapid care centers and medical offices.
Mary Ann Roche of Ancram contacted ANHNA to say she has made hundreds of masks and would like to share her instructions and advice to recruit others to get sewing, according to a press release from ANHNA.
For those who do not have a sewing machine but know how to sew, there are one or two machines available to be loaned out. The pattern is easy and only requires basic sewing experience.
The masks are not medical-grade needed for protecting front-line health workers, but they may help to provide a protective barrier for those in the community and others in the hospital or medical offices. This saves the medical-grade masks for those who are at the most risk.
Anyone interested should contact Hila Richardson at hila.richardson@gmail.com or 917-414-8270.
Fire Chief David Boice has agreed to have a drop-off site for the masks at the firehouse starting Monday, April 6.
Join K’hook neighbors in candle lighting
KINDERHOOK—The Village of Kinderhook has sent out an invitation to neighbors in the Village of Kinderhook, the Village of Valatie, the Hamlet of Niverville, and the Town of Kinderhook to join in a lighting a candle outside their homes every Friday night at 8 p.m.
The invite says, …”local teachers, firefighters, sheriffs, state troopers, emergency rescue workers, doctors, nurses, hospital staff, postal workers, FedEx and UPS drivers, farmers, food and drink providers, supermarket staff, and many more are working every day to help keep our communities functioning during the Covid-19 emergency. We invite you to help us acknowledge their dedication… Your candle will also acknowledge the many individuals who have tragically lost their lives to the coronavirus.”
Explore county ecology online
HARLEMVILLE—Because the Farmscape Ecology Program (FEP) at Hawthorne Valley is currently unable to offer any guided ecology walks in person, they are providing some new online resources to help guide independent explorations of the natural world in Columbia County during this time of physical distancing.
Monday through Saturday, FEP staff takes turns posting daily photographic essays entitled “Farmscape Wonder Wanders” both on Facebook (www.facebook.com/Farmscape-Ecology-Program) and in the blog: Progress of the Seasons Journal (https://progressoftheseasons.wordpress.com/). In these essays, staff shares what they see, learn, and find interesting during their own explorations of natural areas here in the county.
The public is invited to “come for a walk” with them and then also to share their own discoveries. The Sunday posts are a potpourri of select seasonal observations contributed by the community. They also contain a brief comparison of this year’s seasonal events with historical events recorded from our area for the same calendar week in the period between 1826-1875.
Staff has also created a new webpage “Spring Flora of Columbia County,” where—from now until the end of May—they will assemble weekly a virtual bouquet (a pdf poster) of the flowers currently seen in the county. These “What is in bloom?” posters have links to species descriptions of each flower to facilitate learning more about them.
Relief offered to Hillsdale residents who have lost jobs
HILLSDALE—Thanks to donations from Hillsdale residents to the Hillsdale Economic and Community Development Corporation (HECDC), the HECDC is offering gifts of $250 to Hillsdale individuals or families who are experiencing financial stress due to loss of employment because of Covid-19.
The available funds are limited, so apply as soon as possible.
Email hillsdaleny@gmail.com or call 518-325-5073 X 6 to learn how to qualify.
Donations are also welcome. Contributions are tax-deductible. Make checks payable to the HECDC and mail it to: HECDC, P.O. Box 305, Hillsdale 12529. Write in the memo: Covid-19 Fund.
