Compiled by Janice Llanes Fabry
Cornucopia of Treasures
The Rye Historical Society and The Friends of Rye Nature Center are co-hosting a unique program celebrating the origins of Thanksgiving at the Square House Museum on Saturday from 2-4. In the sixth annual “Exploring Native American & Colonial Life,” participants will learn about the tools, techniques, and foods commonly used by early inhabitants of the area.
Afterwards, they are invited to enjoy a sampling of Native American and colonial cuisine. The cost is $10 per family.
Learn how to connect to an animal’s energy on Saturday from 9-1 at Wainwright House. Eileen Savage will lead a Reiki class geared for healing animals. Must have completed Reiki One and/or Two. Participants will receive certification upon completion. The fee is $70 for members, $90 non-members. For more information, visit www.wainwright.org.
New Moon Gathering
For those who want to focus on goals, Wainwright House offers a nurturing environment in which to do so. Seed your potential with the new moon, Saturday from 7-9 with facilitator Pamela Cucinell. The cost is $20 for members, $25 non-members. For more information, call 967-6080 or visit www.wainwright.org.
Naturalist and Curator Emerita of Marshlands Conservancy Alison Beall will discuss “Impact of Storm Activity on Vegetation,” while leading a walking demonstration Saturday at 3 on the Meeting House and Bird Homestead properties.
The walk will serve as a guide to planting in the coastal plain in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Learn which plants suffered most, which survived, and which new plants came in on the tides and thrived. The native coastal salt marsh plants will also be identified and their special requirements discussed.
Beall has spent 35 years as an environmental educator in Rye. This program is part of the Bird Homestead nonprofit’s ongoing lecture series, funded in part by a grant from the John E. Streb Fund for New York of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The program is free, but donations are gratefully accepted. For further information, call 967-0099.
Aging With Grace
On Sunday, all are welcome to Rye Presbyterian Church at 7 for an M&M Productions presentation of “Painting Churches.” Tina Howe’s poignant one-act play, which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, is about an artist and her relationship with her parents. It treats the subject of dementia with wit, compassion, and intelligence.
Admission is free. Stay afterwards for a discussion with the actors about the issues portrayed.
Thanksgiving = Tales + Celebrations
Tellabration, the annual worldwide gathering at which stories of Thanksgiving and community are shared, will be commemorated locally at the Rye Free Reading Room Saturday at 7. Sponsored by the Rye Storytellers’ Guild, the evening’s stories will be dedicated to Neva Winter, a founder of the Guild.
Bring a friend and enjoy refreshments and tales for grown-ups. For more information, visit www.ryelibrary.org.
Diving in After Thanksgiving
Work off your turkey dinner at the Rye YMCA’s 10th Annual Thanksgiving Swim-A-Thon on November 29 for two great causes: Livestrong at the YMCA and MAC Angels Foundation. Two morning sessions include one for high school students from 7:50-8:35 (7:15 registration) and another for adults from 9-9:45 (8:15 registration). The fee per session is $50. To sign up, email Phil Gormley at phil@peacockapparel.net.
Artistic Bedfellows
“Separate Journeys,” an exhibit of photographs and paintings by Walter and Marilyn Rabetz, will be on display at the Rye Free Reading Room from December 1-29. An opening reception will be held December 4 from 5:30-7:30. Walter Rabetz is a well-known fine art photographer whose work appears in numerous museums and books. Marilyn Rabetz is a nationally known colored pencil artist, a writer on art and a teacher at the Rye Arts Center. The couple co-founded QTR Productions: Fine Arts, Books, Design.
Colors, Crisp and Clean
The Rye Free Reading Room is showcasing the watercolor paintings of Rye Art Center teacher Brigitte Loritz and her students through November 26. “Thursday A.M. Take Two” features the artwork crated by the highly talented students in Loritz’s advanced Thursday morning art class. (See feature on B6.)
One of Our Own
Join SPRYE on December 3 at 10:30 for a free guided tour of “A Mid-Century Mind at Play,” Irving Harper’s tour de force of whimsical paper sculpture at the Rye Arts Center. The 98-year-old artist, who lives in town, is showing his work publicly for the first time.
Holiday Fairs
The Christmas spirit will be on display at the Annual Resurrection School Christmas Fair, December 6 from 10-5. This year’s fair will take you to a winter wonderland filled with fabulous gifts, Christmas and home decor, jewelry, apparel, delicious treats, and family activities. Santa will arrive on the Polar Express train. You can buy wreaths and garlands while you’re there and take a chance on a raffle.
For complete details, visit resurrectionschool.com.
The Jewish Community Center of Harrison is holding its holiday fair December 7 from 10-3. A great selection of merchandise, including designer children’s clothing, women’s apparel, fine art, jewelry, scarves, gloves, leather goods, fitness wear, stationery, meringue cookies, Judaica, and accessories will be on sale. Don’t forget your shopping list!
The holiday season kicks off musically at the Rye Free Reading Room December 6 at 2 when talented young violinist Akiko Kobayashi performs a delightful program of works by Mozart, Strauss, and De Falla. Kobayashi, who was born in New York, plays both solo and chamber music and has performed recitals in Germany, as well as at several New York City area concert halls. She graduated from Yale University and holds a Master of Music in Classical Violin from the Manhattan School of Music.
Calling All Gamers
Video games are fun to play, but even more fun to create. Teens are invited to learn how to program characters and worlds of their own design at the Rye Free Reading Room December 4 from 6:30-8. Create a 3D video game with Unity, a powerful game engine. Space is limited; register in person or call 231-3172.
Super Soccer Stars
After sitting still at the holiday table, younger kids (ages 2½-3 and 4-5) will want to unwind in the Rye YMCA’s Thanksgiving Weekend clinics. They can play soccer and work on arts and crafts projects November 28, 29, and 30 from 9:30-12. The cost is $225 for all three days, $80 per day. To register, email melissalewis@ryeymca.org.
Runaway Turkey
On November 29, Rye Recreation is holding its ever-popular Turkey Run/Paws Walk 2014. Start and finish at Rye Rec Park. Participants may check in and register on-site at 8. The one-mile Paws Walk-a-Thon starts at 9; the one-mile Fun Run/Walk starts at 9:30. The 3.1- and 5.2-mile races begin at 10. To register online and see race maps, visit www.ryeny .gov/recreation.cfm. For more information, call 967-2535.
Meditation Mix
A well-rounded experience for the whole you awaits at Wainwright House on November 26 from 7:30-8:30, the first day of a 4-week series. Led by Carl Vreeland, the unique evening offers a rotating focus that will benefit new as well as experienced students of meditation. Series fee is $40 for members, $44 non-members. Visit www.wainwright.org for more information.
Gift of Gab
The Rye Storytellers’ Guild meets at the Rye Free Reading Room one Tuesday evening a month at 6 to share traditional and personal tales and trade tips on storytelling techniques. The December 2 meeting will feature stories about “Gifts Given.” Listeners, as well as tellers, are always welcome.
The Rye Free Reading Room book groups have announced the reading selections for their next meetings. The Current Events Group’s book is “Asia’s Cauldron: The South China Sea and the End of a Stable Pacific” by Robert Kaplan for its meeting on November 25 at 6:30. The Friday Book Café will discuss “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne December 5 at 9:30. Contact the library at 231-3161 for this meeting’s offsite location. The Thursday Afternoon Book Group will read “This Is How You Lose Her” by Junot Diaz for its December 11, 1:15 gathering.
Copies of the books are available at the Circulation Desk, and everyone is welcome to join the discussions.
Word Perfect
A two-part workshop on using Microsoft Word will be given at the Rye library December 4 and 11, from 10-12. This workshop covers preparing documents with many of its features, including data handling, preparing and using folders and files, and editing tools such as cut-copy-paste, spell checking, and page numbering.
The class will be taught by Mike Negrelli, who worked for IBM for 37 years, and received numerous awards for developing and teaching technical courses. He currently teaches computer classes in the adult section of the Tech Center (BOCES) in Yorktown Heights.
Good Vibrations
Practice restorative yoga postures while surrounded by the beautiful sounds of antique Tibetan bowls at Wainwright House December 4 from 6:30-8. The vibrational tones of the antique bowls provide balance and healing. Conducted by Marianne Denniston and Kate Bovers, the class will settle the body and relieve physical tension. The fee is $30 for members; $33 non-members. Registration deadline: December 1.
Dickens of a Weekend
A Wainwright House weekend, December 5-7, will put any Scrooge in the holiday spirit. There will be entertainment for the whole family, from a children’s night to a holiday market place. Call 967-6080 for a complete schedule.
Square House by Candlelight
Step back in time and experience a colonial Christmas at the Square House Museum December 6 from 7-9. The historic landmark will be decorated for the season and ready to receive holiday guests. Costumed docents will guide visitors through the Tavern Room, the kitchen and second floor rooms by candlelight – battery-operated of course.
Walk in the footsteps of John Adams and George Washington and imagine them sitting at a table discussing current events with curious residents as Widow Haviland, the tavern keeper, plans a fine meal for her guests. Visitors will enjoy mulled cider and holiday cookies. Admission is free.
Spiritual Self-Study
Inherit love’s presence and learn from each other at Wainwright House’s affinity groups every Tuesday from 7-8:30. All are welcome to join the leaderless group to explore “A Course in Miracles.” For shared reading purposes, it is recommended that members bring the book of the same name, published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.
The program is open only to Wainwright members; the cost is $5 per meeting. For more information, email acimgroup@yahoo .com.
Home and History
Talks at the Jay Heritage Center continue with “New York and Greek Revival Era Style 1830-1850” December 7 at 3 at the Van Norden Carriage House on the property. Architectural historian Barry Lewis will conduct the lecture on early to mid-19th century New York, which signaled the arrival of the modern era when industrialization hit the city and forever changed its landscape.
Lewis, who recently retired from 23 years at the New York School of Interior Design, is best known for his decade-long television series of video walks on WNET Channel Thirteen, including the Emmy Award-nominated “42nd Street, Broadway, and Harlem.” The lecture is free, but pre-registration is required. Visit www.jaycenter.org.
Seniors Get Moving
Join SPRYE for Mind/Body/ Spirit December 10 from 3-4:30 at Wainwright House. There will be a demonstration of a series of gentle chair exercises designed to help seniors maintain flexibility and balance. Led by Rye YMCA fitness instructor Michael Iachetta, himself a senior, these exercises incorporate elements of Tai Chi, Yoga, and Pilates. Refreshments at 3, program at 3:15. Free.
Ever-Gutsy Cowboy
Rye Historical Society’s Square House Museum calls all John Wayne fans for a showing of “True Grit” December 14 at 2:30. This last installment of their western series features the Duke’s only Academy Award-winning performance as U.S. Marshall Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn. With a supporting cast that includes Robert Duvall, Glen Campbell, Dennis Hopper, and Kim Darby, the 1969 flick is a must see. Admission is $5. Seating is limited, so call 967-7588 to register.
Language of Design
The Jay Heritage Center is hosting “Hearth & Earth,” a champagne reception and luncheon at American Yacht Club December 18 from 11:30-2. Two of the country’s most talented designers, interior designer Alexa Hampton and landscape architect Thomas L. Woltz will be on hand for interesting conversations and book signings.
Hampton is a perennial Architectural Design icon and JHC board member. Woltz is a principal at Nelson Byrd Woltz, recently named WSJ Magazine’s design innovator. Proceeds will benefit JHC’s educational programs in American History, Architecture, Social Justice and Environmental Stewardship. Tickets start at $150 per person. For advance tickets, call 698-9275 or visit www.jaycenter.org.
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