Arts and leisure digest

Sunday’s car show to benefit cancer center CORnwall - The first “All American Muscle and Classic Car Show to Benefit the Littman Cancer Center” will be held Sunday, Aug. 29, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the grounds of St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital’s Cornwall campus. The show, sponsored by the Mustang Club of Orange County, will feature more than 100 show cars, entertainment and food to raise money in support of SLCH’s Littman Cancer Center. The event will also feature free blood pressure screenings, health information, tours of the hospital’s Cancer Center, and information on the hospital’s Sleep Therapy and Physical Therapy programs. The Club will present trophies for first, second and third place in four categories. Car owners wishing to register their automobiles are required to pay a $15 registration fee. Entry to the event, however; is free. Preregistration is not required. For more information, call Alan Southwell at 914-443-4253. Cabernet Day is Sept. 2 Highland Mills - Thursday, Sept. 2 has been designated Cabernet Day, a day to celebrate Cabernet the “King of Grapes.” The celebration will take place on all social media sites and four Hudson Valley Wineries will be participating.: Brotherhood Winery R Winery at Robibero Family Vineyards Palaia Vineyards Whitecliff Vineyards and Winery Wineries have to produce a Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc or Cabernet Blend to take part in this celebration. Debbie Gioquindo, executive director of Hudson Valley Wine Country thought this would be a great event for Hudson Valley Wineries that produce Cabernet to participate in since Cabernet Franc is grown in the Hudson Valley. To see what other wineries will be participating from all over the world visit http://cabernet.eventbrite.com/. Stormy Weather Players prepare for festival Cornwall — Stormy Weather Players, in Cornwall, is getting ready for its tenth annual New Plays Festival. For those who have already been chosen as directors, as well as anyone who would like to try their hand at directing a short play, the Players are having a directors’ meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 1, and Tuesday, Sept. 2. For anyone who would like to perform in a short play, auditions will be on Wednesday, Sept. 8 and Thursday, Sept. 9. The meetings will be at COVAC, on Clinton Avenue in Cornwall, at 7:30 p.m. (Call to make arrangements for alternative days and times.) Casting will be finalized by Sept. 17 or 18. The current plan is to present the plays as “staged readings.” If there is a large enough turn-out, the Players may go back to more traditional performances. Performances will be on Oct. 15 and 16, at 7:30 p.m., at Munger Cottage. Call Steve or Peg at 534-5733 for additional information. West Point organ recital set for Sunday, Sept. 12 West POint — The Cadet Chapel at West Point will feature an organ recital by Gerald McGee, former civic organist of Portland, Maine, home of the famous Kotzschmar Organ and only one of two cities in the United States to hire a civic organist, on Sunday, Sept. 12 at 3 p.m. The chapel houses the world’s largest church pipe organ numbering over 23,500 pipes in a cathedral sanctuary measuring over 200 feet long. The organ pipes fill the space from the massive six-tier galleries in the front to the horizontal trumpets in the back. The performer is seated at a console with four manuals and pedal containing 874 moving stop tabs making it the largest of its type in the world. This organ is heard by literally thousands of visitors every year including heads of state, members of Congress, cabinet members and foreign dignitaries. The recital is free and open to the general public. A freewill offering will be accepted. Arts Federation calls for artists for juried exhibit SUGAR LOAF — The Orange County Art Federation’s 47th annual Juried Members Exhibition will be held at the Lycian Centre Galleries at The Lycian Centre for the Performing Arts on King’s Highway in Sugar Loaf. Exhibition hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. The reception and award presentations will take place on Saturday, Sept. 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. All artist members with art groups in Orange County and the Hudson Valley region may participate. For the prospective or questions, call or e-mail Sarah E. McHugh at 987-8748 or sarah@mchughstudio.com. Polish and polka classes available Pine Island — Adult Polish language classes will begin on Monday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. for 10 weeks in the CYO Building in Pine Island. Registration is 7 to 7:30 p.m. prior to the first class. Youth Polish language classes for ages seven to 15 will be held on Saturday mornings from 10 a.m. to 12 noon for 10 weeks beginning Saturday, Sept. 25. Free polka dance classes will be offered beginning Wednesday, Sept. 15 (for 10 weeks). Classes are from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the PLAV Hall on Legion Avenue in Pine Island. Call 258-4721 or 294-9254 or email virgo283@yahoo.com for more information. For language classes, call 258-4425 for more information. Lighthouse Cruise on the Hudson is Oct. 9 Haverstraw — The M.V. Commander will offer a two hour cruise “Lighthouse Cruise” along the Hudson River on Saturday, Oct. 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. While on-board, local history narrator Scott Craven will discuss the history surrounding Haverstraw Bay, the Lower Highlands, and the 1826 Stony Point Lighthouse. Boarding is by 5:45 p.m. Advanced reservations required. Call 786-2521. Tickets are $30 for adults, $25 seniors (over 62), and $15 for children age five to 12. For more information, visit www.commanderboat.com Neversink continues concert series with NY songs Cuddebackville — The Neversink Valley Museum of History & Innovation continues its concert series on Friday, Aug. 27, at 7:30 p.m. when it presents the return of musician and educator Dave Ruch. Ruch, a performer and teaching artist, will give a special concert and historical commentary entitled “Traditional Songs of New York State.” Equal parts historian, entertainer, educator, comedian and folklorist, Ruch finds his song material in dusty archives, obscure songbooks, diaries, old recordings, scholarly journals and sometimes from his own children. He sings and plays music for all ages on an intriguing assortment of instruments including mandolin, guitar, wash tub bass, 5-string banjo and jaw harp. This concert takes the audience on a musical trip around the state to sample (and sing along with) some traditional folk songs of real New Yorkers from days gone by - canallers, farmers, lumbermen, children, immigrants, Native Americans, lake sailors, and more - songs from the people who settled and built the state. The concert will be held at the D & H Canal Park visitor’s center, at 58 Hoag Road in Cuddebackville. Admission is $7. For more information call 754-8870 or visit www.neversinkmuseum.org.