Lisa Green reports from Hudson. Authors, teachers and literacy lovers generated an enthusiastic buzz at the Hudson Children’s Book Festival fundraising cocktail party on Saturday, March 28 at Stair Galleries. With more than 70 percent of the students in the Hudson Community School District living below the poverty line, one of the goals of the Children’s Book Festival Scholarship Fund, founded by Chris Jones and Susan Simon, is to provide hundreds of Hudson students the money to buy a book at the Festival. The fund also awards several high school seniors scholarship money to buy books at college. Students passed hors d’oeuvres and read passages from a book whose National Book Award-winning author will be attending the festival. Torrey Maldonado, a “Top 10 Latino Author" and author of the acclaimed novel “Secret Saturdays," described what sets the Hudson Children’s Book Festival (the largest children's book festival in New York State) apart from others. “You see love there, " he said. "Kids are allowed to express their love for books. Your donation is about voice and choice." Above, Torrey Maldonado and Jennifer Clark, Festival co-director. This year’s Festival will be May 2.
Janet Schnitzer, past president of the Hudson Area Association Library and Vicki Kosovac, president of the Friends of the Hudson Area Library; Emily Gripple, visiting from Chicago and Paige Darrah, a freelance writer for Main Street Magazine.
Susan Simon, cookbook author and scholarship fund co-founder, Carolyn West and Lisa Dolan, Festival co-director.
Barbara Mojica and Victor Mojica, both children's book authors from Craryville; Katrina Wilber, who teaches physical education for the Hype Park Central High School, and Andy Millar, a third grade teacher in the Hudson School District.
Atia Begh, Ramisa Tasnim and Brittany Varriale, students from Hudson High, read passages aloud from "Brown Girl Dreaming," whose award-winning author, Jacqueline Woodson, will appear at the Festival.
Ian MacCormack, associate principal at Hudson's intermediate school, Don MacCormack of the Bank of Greene County, and writer Jonathan Lerner;Ellen Huemmer, a teacher, and Diane Kreig, a retired reading teacher.
Owen Davidson, Chris Jones, scholarship fund co-founder, and Mark Prezorski, landscape curator at The Olana Partnership.
Teachers Jennifer Merwin-Domkoski and Tani Quinion ; Jennifer Clark, Mark Brenneman, Montgomery C. Smith Intermediate School principal, Maria Suttmeier, superintendant of the Hudson City School District, Liz Novine, guidance counselor, and Ian MacCormack.
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Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
