Arts and leisure digest

Art auction is April 3 Monroe — Congregation Eitz Chaim, the Monroe-Woodbury Jewish Community Center, will hold an art auction on Sunday, April 3, with a 5 p.m. preview and a 6 p.m. auction start time. There will be a 50/50 raffle, hors d’oeuvres, dessert and coffee, and beverages. Admission is $10 per person and $20 per couple. The auction will feature art in all media and price ranges. Interested people can visit www.marlinart.com and any purchase made will be credited toward the Monroe- Woodbury Jewish Community Center when code 15342 is entered. For more information, call 783-7424. Community book swap is April 3 MONROE — The Monroe Temple will sponsor a book swap, open to the community, on Sunday April 3, from 9 a.m. to noon. Organizers said the event is sponsored by the Temple Torah School and its Social Action Committee to highlight the commandment of “bal tashchit,” the importance of saving trees and the environment. For further information, call 783-2626 or e-mail to: mnrotmpl@frontiernet.net. Strummin’ and Drummin’ jazz concert set for April 10 at at West Point West Point — Sergeant First Class Rone Sparrow will present a chamber recital on Sunday, April 10, at 3 p.m. in Egner Hall. Called “Strummin’ and Drummin’,” the performance will feature the music of past jazz guitar greats and their influential drummers. This concert is free and open to the public. For concert information call 938-2617 or visit www.westpointband.com. Vision Community Church presents the Watoto Children’s Choir on April 1 Warwick - Vision Community Church will sponsor the performance of the Watoto Children’s Choir Concert of Hope on Friday, April 1, in the Warwick Valley Middle School Cafetorium. The music begins at 7 p.m. Watoto means “The Children.” Each child in the choir has experienced tremendous personal tragedy, having lost one or both parents in the African AIDS crisis or other calamities. Now through their music and dance, they share Watoto’s vision: “Rescue a Child, Raise a Leader and Rebuild a Nation.” Watoto is currently caring for over 2,000 parentless children by providing physical, emotional, educational and spiritual care. Choral ensembles in performance this Sunday Warwick — The Spring Tones A Cappella Jamboree will feature two renowned choral ensembles: The Night Owls and Absolut A Capella on Sunday, April 3, at 4 p.m. at the Old School Baptist Meeting House in Warwick. The Night Owls of Vassar College, founded in 1942, is the oldest continuing female a cappella group in the nation. The choir was invited to sing at both of President Clinton’s inaugurations. Absolut A Capella is SUNY New Paltz’s coed a cappella group. Jubilate is a grade four to 12, coed choir based in Warwick with different and overlapping choirs of members who hail from several area school districts. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students and are available by calling 986-9964 or at the door. Proceeds will benefit Jubilate. For more information, visit www.JubilateWarwick.com or call987-2418. Community gathering to honor King’s legacy Rock Tavern — The Unitarian Universalist Meeting House in Rock Tavern will host a community gathering to remember, revisit and rededicate to Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, April 4, from 7 to 9 p.m. (Snow date: April 5.) This event will look deeply at King’s last few years, especially his views on militarism, poverty and racism. The program will include the spoken word, video, music and readings. Speakers include Dr. Zelbert Moore, Professor of Black Studies, SUNY New Paltz; Marge Bell, social worker for the Newburgh School District and Newburgh City Councilwoman; Rae Lainer and Brenda McPhail, community organizers from Community Voices Heard, an organization working to improve the lives of low-income individuals, families and communities; and Rabbi Michael Laxmeter of Temple Agudas Israel, Newburgh. The event is free and open to all. A non-perishable item for the food pantry and finger-food for refreshments will be appreciated. The meeting house is located at 9 Vance Road, in Rock Tavern, off Route 207. For more information call Verne M. Bell at 569-8965, Alison Fornes at 231-3592 or Bennett Weiss at 569-8662. 'Empty bowls’ fundraiser set for Saturday Warwick - A fund raiser to benefit the Backpack Snack Attack Program and Warwick Ecumenical Food Pantry will take place Saturday, April 2, at Warwick Valley High School, and will include a performance at 3 p.m. and luncheon at 4 p.m. Local potters Ray Boswell of Bostree Gallery in Sugar Loaf and Deb Bernstein of Warwick are working with potters to create and donate hand-thrown soup bowls. Event attendees will select a bowl for their soup at the luncheon and take it home afterward. Chef Erik Johansen of the Iron Forge Inn restaurant in Warwick has worked with other local chefs to create recipes for five gourmet soups to be prepared by Warwick Valley High School culinary students and served at the luncheon: Caramelized onion soup; winter squash and apple soup; black bean soup; creamy garlic soup; and potato leek soup. Three of the soups are vegetarian and all are gluten-free, and local ingredients will be used wherever possible. A variety of fresh bread will be donated by Bobolink Dairy and Bakehouse, Milford, N.J. (formerly of Vernon, N.J.) and Rock Hill Bakehouse in Gansevoort and desserts will be donated by Lisa’s Cookie Shop and Jean-Claude’s Patisserie & Dessert Cafe of Warwick and the Bellvale Bruderhof Community. The Backpack Snack Attack weekend meals program, sponsored by the Warwick Reformed Church, provides food in backpacks for needy elementary school children in Warwick, Florida, Pine Island and Greenwood Lake to eat at home on weekends when school meals are not available. The Warwick Ecumenical Food Pantry is housed at the Warwick United Methodist Church, and maintains a supply of donated non-perishable food, baby supplies, toiletries and paper products for those in need. Zephyr will debut Saturday night its 'Magic of Meader and McGlynn’ Vernon, N.J. — Zephyr, an a cappella group, will present its début concert, the Magic of Meader and McGlynn, on Saturday, April 2, at 8 p.m. at St. Francis de Sales R.C. Church. Zephyr sings music, from chant and classical choral music to the Beatles and world music, including music of the first Irish singing group to tour with Riverdance. Zephyr will collaborate on the jazz numbers with the Mitch Schechter String Jazz Trio. Admission to the concert is $20 for adults, $10 for seniors and ages 13-18. Children and unemployed are free. In the spirit of Irish fun in keeping with the Irish music of the concert, $1 off admission will be given to anyone wearing a shamrock. Tickets can be purchased at www.zephyrve.org, and will be sold at the door. The church is located on Route 517 in Vernon. Call 973-862-0668 for any more information. Good Shepherd Lutheran Church serves 'Bourbon Street Breakfast’ this Sunday WARWICK — Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Warwick will hold its “Bourbon Street Breakfast” on Sunday, April 3 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. This event, to be held on the first Sunday of every month, will serve as a fund raiser for New Orleans’ Trinity Lutheran Church that had been severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. In October, several members of Warwick’s Good Shepherd Lutheran Church will go to New Orleans to help in the church’s ongoing rehabilitation. The local team will be assisting with carpentry, painting, cleaning, serving food in soup kitchens, and helping the homeless. Planners said the breakfast will feature authentic New Orleans cuisine. Tickets are $7 for adults and $3 for children under age 12. Cash only payments are accepted at the door. Call 986-3040 for more information. 'Peter and the Wolf’ movie helps teach kids about music Warwick — Children’s movie series will show the animated Chuck Jones film, “Peter and the Wolf,” at the Warwick Valley Community Center, Saturday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. The event is free, but registration is required. This event will be the first in a new series titled KidStrings Lollipop Movies. The free movie nights, geared for children ages four to ten, will feature films where music is a key ingredient, and the children will be taught about musical instruments and musical themes. “Peter and the Wolf,” the classic story by Prokofiev, is recreated through the animation of Chuck Jones, the creator of Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner, who also brought to life many of Warner Bros. characters, including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Seating is limited. For more information or to register, call the Community Center at 986-6422 or KidStrings at 545-1950. The Warwick Valley Community Center is located in the Doc Fry Building at 11 Hamilton Ave. in Warwick.