Good Neighbors: Shaker Museum Mount Lebanon Celebrates The Community

The annual gala for Shaker Museum | Mount Lebanon, held on the lawn of the historic site on Saturday, Aug. 17, began in the sweltering summer heat. As guests sipped creative cocktails and hors d’oeuvres from Hudson’s Lil’ Deb’s Oasis, the weather turned gusty (as you may notice in some of the photos). Dramatic, dark gray clouds rolled in as attendees hurried through raindrops to the dinner tent. The downpour continued throughout the meal, but spirits were high as three members of the community were feted for giving back and helping to build the kind of world in which we all want to live. Brenda Adams was honored for her leadership of Columbia County Habitat for Humanity and its Women Build Project; Ralph Gardner, Jr. for his thoughtful coverage of the area and its happenings on WAMC; and Sarah Steadman for launching an artists’ residency program at Abode Farm, a CSA farm of which she is a co-founder. As board chairman Paul Cassidy noted that evening, there’s never been a better time to use Shaker philosophy as a roadmap for how to live sustainable lives. In his remarks, Ralph Gardener, Jr. mentioned that he was struck by one Shaker belief in particular, which he read on the wall of an exhibit at Mount Lebanon last year: “labor was a form of worship.” Surely using your labor to help others, as the evening’s three honorees have done, is a Shaker-approved way to build an even better community.