Join Us for Memorial Day Ceremonies

The hamlet's annual Memorial Day parade will be at 11 am Monday, May 30, this year. Following the parade, a ceremony will be held on the front lawn of the library.

Although the library is closed for the day, we will be open briefly for the event, so whether you're participating in or attending the ceremony, or just passing through, you're welcome to stop in and grab a book, DVD, or some other item to keep you entertained for the rest of the holiday weekend.

The library also wants to thank all who serve our country by hosting a donation drive for Operation Gratitude. You're invited to drop off donations to our troops at the library during the week of May 16-20. Then join us at 4 pm Friday, May 20, to create cards and care packages. Register online now, and click here to see a list of items we're collecting.

Cupcake Festival This Weekend!

In the mood for something sweet? The Gardiner Cupcake Festival will be held from noon to 6 pm on May 14 at Wright's Farm.

Thousands of cupcakes will make up just a portion of the day's fun. There will also be an amateur cupcake contest, wagon and pony rides, craft vendors, a petting zoo, wine and spirit tastings, and more! The day will also feature a 5K Cupcake Classic through the orchard!

For more information, visit www.GardinerCupcakeFestival.com. Wright's Farm is located at 699 State Route 208, Gardiner.

District Holds Budget Vote

Wallkill Central School District's budget vote takes place Tuesday, May 17, from noon to 9 pm.

Voting will be held in three different areas to accommodate residents of different towns. Those who live in the towns of Montgomery, Gardiner, or Shawangunk should cast their votes at Wallkill High School. Town of Plattekill residents vote at Plattekill Elementary School; and Newburgh town residents vote at Leptondale Elementary.

You can take a look at the district's proposed budget as well as other information, such as the school report card, at the Wallkill Public Library. The information is contained in the blue binder on the table in the fiction room.

Home-School Art Club (HAC)

The Wallkill Public Library is excited to announce a special art program for local home-schooled children. Sessions will be offered once a month; each session will feature a famous artist and an art project. Children will learn about the artist and era, what influenced them culturally, politically, personally and create an art piece similar in technique and style of that artist.

Sessions will typically run about 1 hour and are geared for ages 5-12. Participants will meet at the library; all materials will be provided and is FREE unless otherwise noted.

We will have a trial session on Monday, May 23rd at 1 pm, one summer session on Monday, July 18th at 1 pm and will look to make this a part of our monthly planning schedule starting this fall. Sessions require a minimum of 5 students and are limited to 12 participants. If you are a parent of a home-schooled child and are interested in the program, registration can be found online at www.wallkillpubliclibrary.org.

Story Time Wraps for the Spring

Our last story time until the Summer Reading Program kicks off will be on May 25 for both age groups. But don't despair! We will be having a special story time on June 15, a Toddler Story Time at 11 am and Book Buddies at 1 pm. Those attending can sign up their little ones for our SRP at that time. They will receive their books logs and a prize.

Quilters' Club Pillowcase Outreach Project

Calling all who love to quilt, sew or both... The Wallkill Public Library Quilters' Club needs you!! Our group is preparing for a Pillowcase Outreach Project. Our goal is to make 50 pillowcases to be donated to children in our community during the holidays. If you are interested in participating in this worthwhile community endeavor, contact Carolyn Thorenz at 895-3707 or cthorenz@rcls.org. The quilting group will be giving a tutorial for pillowcase making at our May 25 meeting, 6:30 pm at the Town Hall Community Room.

Arts & Crafts Fair Back for Holiday Weekend

The Woodstock-New Paltz Arts and Crafts Fair will return to the Ulster County Fairgrounds Memorial Day Weekend!

Artists and craftspeople from far and wide will be displaying and selling beautiful, homemade merchandise throughout the weekend. Live music in the Entertainment Tent features musical talent from the the Hudson Valley. The fair will take place from
10 am to 5:30 pm Saturday and Sunday (May 28 and 29), and from 10 am to 4 pm Monday (May 30). Cost is $9 for adults, $8 for seniors, and free for children 12 and under. Visit their website for a $1 discount on admission.

For more information, call Quail Hollow Events at 246-3414 or 679-8087.

Calling All Collectors

Do you collect stamps, butterflies, baseball ephemera, 1930's kitchen gadgets, postcards...? Do you have an interesting hobby or craft that you would like to share with the library for a month? We are looking to "book" items for our vestibule display case. In the past, we have featured collections of Japanese dolls, vintage beaded evening bags, Mexican pottery, Batman memorabilia, antique toys, Borden artifacts and Lego creations. Contact Julie at jmoussot@rcls.org if you'd like to place your treasures on view at the library.

Storm King Art Center Passes Available

Storm King Art Center is now open for the season! Hours are Wednesdays through Sundays, 10 am to 5:30 pm.

Widely celebrated as one of the world's leading sculpture parks, Storm King Art Center has welcomed visitors from across the globe for fifty years. It is located in the lower Hudson Valley in New Windsor, where its pristine 500-acre landscape of fields, hills, and woodlands provides the setting for a collection of more than 100 carefully sited sculptures created by some of the most acclaimed artists of our time.

Special exhibitions on view from May 14 through November 13 include: Dennis Oppenheim: Terrestrial Studio will include works from different points in this artist's diverse career, including new outdoor and indoor sculpture, installation, sound, film, and photography, which will be installed throughout the landscape and in the museum. Additionally, the Outlooks series will feature a site-specific project by Josephine Halvorson, who will present a new series of painted sculptural works-in part, painted on site.

Park passes can be borrowed by adult Wallkill Public Library cardholders for three days, on a first come, first served basis and cannot be reserved. Passes entitle the bearer to free admission to the Art Center, discounts in the Museum Store, Café, and on bike rentals, as well as access to new exhibitions and programs. Call the circulation desk at 895-3707 to inquire about availability today! These passes are a generous gift from our Friends of the Library group.

Upcoming Wallkill Valley Land Trust Events

Mycology Walk with
Luke Sarrantonio
Saturday, May 14, 4 to 6 pm
Free for WVLT Members, $5 General Public
Nyquist-Harcourt Wildlife Sanctuary, Huguenot Street, New Paltz

Why do mushrooms emerge where they do? Why do they grow in the unique shapes that they do? What roles do they play in the ecosystems that surround us? Join us for a guided walk and look into the vast world of mushrooms and other fascinating fungi. We will start with a brief discussion on biology, ecology, foraging, edibility, toxicity and safety followed by a foray through the Sanctuary.

Please RSVP by emailing info@WallkillValleyLT.org or by calling
(845) 255-2761.

Houses on the Land: WVLT's 6th Annual House Tour

Saturday, June 4, 11 am to 4:30 pm
Sherwood's Forest: Rural Lloyd from the Wetlands to the River
10-Horse Art Center, 65 Black Creek Road, Highland
$35 / $30 members by June 2; $40 / $35 members thereafter
(includes reception from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm)

Our 2016 historic house tour explores the fascinating legacy of the Town of Lloyd's rural interior. Perched on a shale terrace, bounded by the Swartekill marshes on the west and the Hudson cliffs to the east, its romantic rocky ridges, ravines, streams and woodsy terrain are the heroes of Warren Sherwood's poems and town history.

Creativity and the arts play a role in this tour, which features eight of the town's most important rural homesteads dating from the early 19th century to the present. Some were occupied by artists or contain interesting collections; others were fancifully re-imagined by an artistic personality or created more recently as visions of earlier 20th-century architectural traditions. They range from unusual stone dwellings and traditional clapboard farm houses, including a "tiny" abode, to a dramatic contemporary structure on the Hudson.

Most have never before been open to the public.

Programming Highlights

Thursday, May 12

Read to Zoe*, registered therapy dog, K-grade 3, 4 pm
DIY Image Coasters* Create custom tile coasters with your images or ours, 4:30-5:30 pm
Adult Knit/Crochet Club, 6:30 pm

Friday, May 13

Foodie Friday* healthy smoothies, 4-5 pm. Ages 7-12

Monday, May 16

Read to Sadie* registered therapy dog, K-grade 3, 4 pm

Tuesday, May 17

Textile Tuesday in the Town Hall Community Room,
10 am-3 pm
Teen Movie* Watch the classic Charlie Chaplin silent film, The Gold Rush*, age 13+, 3-4 pm
Adult Coloring Club, 6:30-8:00 pm
Adult Fiction Book Club discussing Cape May with special guest, author, Holly Caster, 6:30 pm
Friends of the Wallkill Public Library meeting
at the bookshop, 6:30 pm

Wednesday, May 18