Message from the Mayor: Waterfront, MLK breakfast, Youth Council, Food Bank, Breast Milk, Anna Draper
Posted on: January 9, 2017 - 8:51am
Fellow residents,
A few items after this snowy weekend. Let’s start with a reminder too late for this past unanticipated snow event, but always worth remembering: if it snows, get your parked car off the road and into your driveway or garage. Makes snowplowing the street clean a whole lot easier.
Waterfront Shoreline Discussion
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This year, we will be focusing much attention on the waterfront as we work through a process to design the shoreline and then, eventually, to rezone the entire parcel. Our first meeting in this process is this week, Wednesday, January 11th at 7PM in the Orr Room at the library, when Jeff Anzevino of Scenic Hudson gives a presentation on “Revitalizing Hudson Riverfronts: Resilient Waterfronts in an Era of Sea level Rise”. This will help set the context for subsequent meetings we will have, including one the following week seeking community input on water-related and recreational uses.
Martin Luther King breakfast
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We have our 5th annual Martin Luther King Community Breakfast at the James Harmon Community Center on, appropriately, MLK Day, Monday, January 16 from 9:15am to 12:30pm. The event honors the Hastings Youth Council, a hard-working institution that has made a difference in our kid’s lives for two generations (more below). Kenneth Jenkins, a county leader (and legislator) will speak as well. This lovely low-key event has properly honored the holiday and is a great way for us to come together as a community. It is $12 in advance for adults, $18 at the door, and $10 for kids, $12 at the door (under 5 free) Write to geraldjer@optonline.net to reserve your place. A proper way to celebrate the day.
Youth Council
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The Youth Council dates back almost fifty years, established to address drug and alcohol abuse then. Its mission has significantly broadened to not only include preventative programs but also many efforts for enrichment. They’ve provided the much-appreciate Safe Rides program every Friday and Saturday night which gives our youth a way to get home safely. As another example of one of their initiative, they run an effort called Hastings KIDS (Kids Involved in Doing Service) which provides opportunities for community service. This is a clearinghouse for volunteer opportunities, a student club which draws from all high school years, and a “Philantropy Phair” that exposes students to different charitable organizations. The Youth Council does much, and if you’re interested in hearing more, reach out to them at Hastingsyouthcouncil@gmail.com.
Food Bank collection
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An Eagle Scout project called the Hastings Interfaith Food Initiative Volunteer Effort (“HIFIVE”) has bins at the Foodtown, Temple Beth Shalom, First Reformed Church, and Grace Episcopal churches for collecting non-perishable food items to keep the shelves of our own Hastings Food Pantry stocked. Scout Charlie Freireich’s effort continues through the end of February and has collected almost a ton of food for those among us who most need it. Please contribute when you can, as often as you can during the next seven weeks to this effort.
Breast Milk Depository
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New York’s first breast milk donor bank opened here in Hastings at the Andrus Nursing home at 185 Broadway late last year – while it got a little press play, I haven’t had a chance to highlight this unique addition to our Village. The New York Milk Bank stores and provides the gift of breast milk to the ill or premature babies who are best served by the real thing. And to add a delightful element to this terrific story, the Sirens Women’s Motorcycle Club of NYC have volunteered to provide a volunteer delivery service, both picking up and delivering the milk. If you wish to donate, call 212-956-MILK (6455).
Lady Astronomers
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Finally, its been some time since I tossed out a historical story about our village, and I encountered an interesting one in December forwarded by a Village resident. We know that Henry Draper, whose estate is now a park and his house/observatory the home of our Village Historical Society, played an important role in the development of astronomy. What was not as well-known is that his wife, Anna Palmer Draper, is the one who arguably made the more lasting contribution to science, continuing work she had begun with him of photographing the spectra of stars after his death. (These spectra tell you the chemical composition of stars.) Anna Draper delivered the glass plates of these spectra to a group of women at Harvard who worked to classify these spectra into the first catalog of star types known as the Draper Catalog. Draper’s niece, Antonia Maury, further refined the catalog and then Annie Cannon published a classification system still in use today. This group of dedicated women scientists were pioneers with roots here in Hastings. (Their story has been recently described in a new book, “The Glass Universe”, by Dava Sobel.) Even then, we led!
All the best in the New Year: there is much ahead this year for our Village and we will strive to keep you informed and engaged.
Sincerely,
Peter Swiderski
Mayor