Entertainment briefs

How a family shaped a town

MILFORD, PA—A walking tour of downtown Milford that illustrates the many contributions to the community made by the prominent Pinchot family since the 1800s will take place on Saturday, September 4, beginning at 11 am.

Participants should meet on the lawn of the Pike County Library at the intersection of Broad and Harford Streets. Pre-registration is suggested by emailing greytowers@fs.fed.us or calling 570/296-9630.

The program is offered by the U.S. Forest Service at Grey Towers, ancestral home of the Pinchot family. Tour fees are $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for students and free for youth 12 and under. Participants are encouraged to tour Grey Towers after the walking tour and can do so at half price. Visit fs.fed.us/gt .

Travel talk

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — Morgan Outdoors will host Jeff Blumenfeld for a special presentation based on his new book, “You Want to Go Where?” (Skyhorse Publishing) on Friday, September 3 at 7:00 p.m. The book covers some of the world’s most historic expeditions and adventures with an eye towards how people can gain funding for their own travels.

Blumenfeld covers several noteworthy adventures: from Will Steger’s first confirmed dog sled trek to the North Pole to Reid Stowe’s recently concluded history’s longest sea voyage—1,152 days. The free public program will be followed by a book signing.

Seating is limited and reservations are recommended. Call 845/439-5507.

‘Four Women of Substance’

HONESDALE, NY — The Philip Hone Gallery will host the exhibit “Four Women of Substance,” featuring work by Gabrielle Feldman, Suzannah Rhea Hadorn, Joan Hill and Nancy Wells, on Thursday, September 16, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The exhibit will continue through October 21.

The gallery is located at 742 Main Street, and hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm or by appointment. Visit philiphonegallery.com or call 570/253-5577.

‘Picture This!’ photography exhibit at Chant

LORDS VALLEY, PA — Photography and digital imagery will be featured at Chant Realtors’ art show in Hemlock Farms in September. The month-long show starts with a meet-the-artists reception cocktail party on Saturday, September 4, from 5 to 7 pm, with light refreshments.

The photographs will continue on view throughout September from 9 am to 5 pm seven days a week. The Hemlock Farms Office is located at 631 Route 739. Call 888/824-5564.

‘Books, Bubbles & Balloons’ at the Labor Day Parade

DEBRUCE, NY — The 16th DeBruce Labor Day Parade, benefiting the Livingston Manor Free Library, will return this year on Monday, September 6 with the theme “Books, Bubbles & Balloons,” celebrating children’s literacy. Festivities will start at 10 am and the parade will step off at 11 am.

Attendees are invited to come dressed as their favorite book character and march in the parade. In addition, there will be floats, fire trucks, antique cars and a marching band. The day will include entertainment by Story Laurie, The Bubbleman, the Balloon-a-Tic, the Bronx Opera, a plane flyover, Lorena the Flamenco Dancer and more. There will also be hot dogs, soda and chips, and free ice cream for the kids. Children’s authors Clara Gillow Clark and Vera B. Williams will be on hand to sign books and greet the children, and there will be a giant book sale featuring hundreds of children’s books

Festivities will take place at 21 Goff Road, DeBruce, exit 96 off Route 17, five miles east of Livingston Manor. Call 845/439-5440.

Harp and violin music at Grey Towers

MILFORD, PA — The Port Jervis Council for the Arts will host a reception and concert at Grey Towers National Historic Site on Saturday, September 11. The reception will start at 5 pm, followed by a concert at 6:15 pm featuring Bridget Kibbe on the harp and Hye-Jim Kim on the violin. The reception will feature hors d’oeuvres, wine and refreshments.

Tickets cost $25 for the reception and concert and $10 for the concert only. The event is sponsored by Orange & Rockland; Dr. Robert Lehrer; Berard & Donahue, CPA; the Tri-State Chamber of Commerce; Driving Excellence Auto School, Inc. More sponsorship opportunities are being offered for from $100 to $1000, which includes tickets to the reception and concert.

The many faces of Willard Schadt

NARROWSBURG, NY — “While my work is inspired by the human face, I do not consider the paintings portraits,” said painter Willard Schadt, whose exhibition of paintings of human facial expressions opens at Alliance Gallery at 37 Main St. on Friday, September 10, with a reception from 7 to 9 pm. The exhibit will be on view through October 2.

Schadt was born and raised in Sullivan County before receiving a BA in studio art from Wesleyan University in 1970. He started painting with black and white acrylics in the early ‘70s. After a long hiatus during which he did not paint, he began again in 2003, now using black and white oils. He was not so much “inspired” to paint again, but instead found that he could no longer not paint.

Free and open to the public, the exhibit is sponsored by the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, the Arts Council for Sullivan County. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. Visit ArtsAllianceSite.org or call 845/252-7576.

‘God on Trial’

MONTICELLO, NY — Temple Sholom at 5 E. Dillon Rd. will hold a special Slichot program and service on Saturday, September 4. At 7 pm there will be a showing of the movie “God on Trial,” followed by a discussion. The movie poses the question: with all the evil we see in the world, how can we affirm that God exists? Refreshments and a Havdalah and Slichot Service will follow, during which a ceremony will be held to change the Torah mantle in preparation for the High Holy Days.

The movie was voted best documentary at the Sun Valley Spiritual Film Festival in 2007. It is a Masterpiece Theatre World War II drama about a group of Auschwitz prisoners who decide to put God on trial. The tale is based on anecdotal reports of an actual band of concentration camp inmates who convened a rabbinical court to determine how such evil could exist in a God-centric universe as they awaited the determination of their own fates— death or hard labor. Everyone is welcome. Call 845/794-8731.

Performance artist Laylage Courie at CAS

LIVINGSTON MANOR, NY — Brooklyn and Pond Eddy-based performance artist Laylage Courie will present “Notes from the Symposium on Slippage Through Time’s Coarse Grasp” at the Catskill Arts Society (CAS) Arts Center, 48 Main Street, on Saturday, September 11 at 7:30 pm. Courie is a language-based performance artist who illuminates non-traditional texts with an imaginative use of everyday objects, minimal physicality and extraordinary voice work. This new work transforms the corporate cliché—a PowerPoint presentation—with the words of physicist Robert Wilson and painter Mark Rothko, strange songs and bizarre Microsoft clip art.

Admission costs $8 for members and $10 for non-members. Doors open at 7 pm.

The project is made possible in part with funding from the Sullivan County Arts & Heritage Grant funded by the Sullivan County Legislators, and is part of the Second Saturdays initiative of the Livingston Manor Chamber of Commerce. Call 845/436-4227.

Maris Hearn Memorial Concert

FORESTBURGH, NY — The Friends of Maris Hearn will present the fourth annual Maris Hearn Memorial Concert in The Tavern at the Forestburgh Playhouse on Saturday, September 4 at 2 pm. The concert will feature Rod MacDonald in a benefit for radio station WJFF Jeffersonville.

Judith DeMaris (Maris) Hearn, folk DJ, peace activist, lesbian, feminist and athelete, died on March 8, 2007, International Women’s Day, after an almost 20-year battle with cancer. She had a long-running show, “The Gumbo Shop,” on WJFF, hydro-powered community radio in the Catskills.

Throughout an international music career of three decades, Rod MacDonald ( rodmacdonald.net ) has performed at many of the finest clubs, coffeehouses and major festivals in the U.S. and abroad. His repertoire ranges from timeless ballads to modern folk songs, including compositions of his own.

The suggested donation is $20 at the door. Visit wjffradio.org or call 845/482-4141.

‘Flowers of Eternal Beauty’

MOSCOW, PA — A profound love of flowers is the inspiration for Lucille Norella, as is evident in the work at left. It is one of many pieces that will be on display in the exhibit “Belamoura: Flowers of Eternal Beauty,” from September 10 through October 21 at Lackawanna College Environmental Institute on Route 435 in Moscow. There will be an opening reception with refreshments on Friday, September 10 from 5 to 7 pm. Original work will be available for purchase. Call 570/842-1506.