CMEE recently had a birthday and just like any five year old, we've made a holiday "wish list." In the spirit of the season, we would be immensely grateful for any donations of any items from our list to help enhance our programs and exhibits!

Here is what the Museum is wishing for:

• Food & Treats for our mascot, Henry the Rabbit
• Laminating Machine
• Five Pop-Up Tents for Summer Programs
• Six Blenders and one Breville pie maker for cooking classes
• One Keurig single-cup Coffee Maker so parents, grandparents, and caregivers can enjoy coffee at CMEE
• Volunteers - if you're interested in donating your time, check out our volunteer opportunities!  

Call Christine at 631-537-8250 if you have any items to donate!

As you know, CMEE is committed to looking at the challenges our community faces and seeing where we can make a difference, and so we have met with many community leaders to identify partnership opportunities. CMEE is delighted and grateful to have two of its community partnerships recently recognized in the local press. The Southampton and East Hampton Press covered CMEE's effort to help local children who couldn't attend pre-school because of a lack of classroom space. In response, CMEE is hosting a Head Start preschool class at the Museum that started this fall.  CMEE is also collaborating with The Retreat to provide programming for families affected by domestic violence, which was featured in the Sag Harbor Express. And, our free family literacy program in collaboration with Sandpiper Music Together is serving more families than ever before, helping the one in seven residents of Eastern Long Island who is functionally illiterate.



To carry on this kind of important work and build on our success of the past year, we need your help. Please make a tax-deductible donation today so CMEE can continue helping solve the important issues that face our community by providing families with a safe and nurturing environment to learn and have fun!

Join us for daily drop-in fun when school is out over the holiday break! No need to reserve in advance...but you might want to line up a friend or two to meet at CMEE for a creatively fun play date!

 

10am - 11am

A different activity - art, cooking, craft - every day!

Members: $5  / Non-Members: $17 (includes materials fee and admission)

11am - 12 Noon 

Create a 'Bulgarian Lap Loom"! CMEE will provide each participant with a traditional beechwood weaving loom and 100% pure sheep's wool yarn to create either a wallhanging, placemat or purse! Easy, Fun and creative - and the results give children a great sense of 'homemade' pride!

Members: $10  / Non-Members: $22 (includes materials fee and admission)

2011 is just four weeks away. But who's counting? We are! And we hope you and your family will join the fun as we get an early start on ringing in the New Year!

Come to CMEE on Friday, December 31 for our Third Annual New Year's Eve "Ball Drop" at Noon. Revelers are invited to come to the Museum at 11am, create and decorate their own noise makers and count down to "Mid-Day" as a ball is dropped from the CMEE Ship (aka "CMEE Time Square") complete with the swirling confetti and sparkling cider. CMEE's Ball Drop gives children who will be fast asleep at midnight the opportunity to ring in the New Year!

Free to Members and $9 for Non-members (includes admission)

Even if you haven't met Amy, you've probably seen her. She can be found wearing her colorful apron setting up mixing bowls in the lobby for a cooking class, offering servings of freshly made popcorn on a rainy day, or overseeing a creative art activity. Maybe you've recognized her tending to CMEE's mascot, Henry the Rabbit or welcoming visitors during occasional shifts at the front desk.

CMEE's Family Literacy Program with Sandpiper Music Together continues to expand! Not only are we offering more classes, in response to requests from parents, we've increased the length of the program to accommodate a weekly art activity that incorporates the reading lessons and adds play to the learning experience. 

For example, a character from Lois Ehlert's book Moon Rope was brought to life when families made their own fox puppet by gluing a photocopied image of the fox onto a paper lunch bag creating a three dimensional image. They added to the puppet with materials from CMEE's art studio, including scraps of wall paper, magazines, tissue paper, textured fabrics, crayons, and pastels.

After creating the puppet, program instructors encouraged parents to read the story to their children by using the puppet. Families can have a wonderful, creative experience together using the simplest materials found at home.

Thank you to Annette Dougherty who hosted two sold-out workshops at CMEE over the Thanksgiving Weekend, recreating "A Day in 1621" - from churning butter, using a feather tip pen and ink, playing pilgrim games - young travelers back in time had fun learning about life without the wii and modern conveniences!

 

It was a true "Fiesta" at CMEE on November 21, when the Museum hosted a Multicultural Book Fair, co-sponsored with Sag Harbor's Temple Adas Israel and the United Jewish Appeal of New York/New Jersey. Beside a sale of great selection of multi-cultural books from Scholastic, the day featured live music, a book-making class, a Music Together class for toddlers even a pinata. Thank you, Leah Oppenheimer for making this festive day happen and helping to celebrate all members of our diverse community!