Arts and leisure digest

Celebrate Monroe history through photogaphs Monroe - As part of its annual meeting on Saturday, April 9, the Town of Monroe Historical Society will host a program featuring Town of Monroe Historian James A. Nelson who will narrate Monroe history using old photographs. The general public is invited; you do not need to be a member to attend. Light refreshments will be served. The meeting begins at 9 a.m. in the rear section of the Monroe Senior Center - through the double red doors. There will be a short business meeting, followed by the election of officers. The photographs on this page, courtesy of Nelson and the Monroe Historical Society, show the sporting life in Monroe - for spectators and participants - over the years. Free wine-tasting set for Sunday Monore - The Sisterhood of Monroe Woodbury Jewish Community Center-Eitz Chaim Congregation is sponsoring a free wine-tasting on Sunday, April 10, at Star Liquors, at 475 Route 17M, Monroe, where a large selection of kosher wines is available. This Passover wine fund raiser is open to the public, and will feature refreshments and a raffle. It will be held from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Greenwood Lake library series screens 'Solar Max’ film Greenwood Lake —The sun is the star in our galaxy — we can’t live without it. Greenwood Lake Library presents Living with a Star, a session with Dr. Charles P. Holmes, retired from NASA, on Thursday, April 14 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The presentation will feature “Solar Max,” a film about how we study the sun, how it work, how old it is, how long will it last, and more. Registration is required either in person or by phone at 477-8377 Ext. 101, and is free. For adults, as well as grades 7 and up. Seating is limited. The library is located at 79 Waterstone Road, Greenwood Lake. The program is sponsored by Charles P. Holmes. Albert Wisner Public Library will host evening of Brazilian music Warwick - The Albert Wisner Public Library will present the John Arbo-Richard Boukas Duo on Friday evening, April 8, celebrating 'Music of Brazil.” The concert, from 7 to 8 p.m., marks the 20th anniversary of Arbo’s and Boukas’ first collaboration on Brazilian music in Boukas’ Brazilian quartet, “Amazôna.” Brazilian music is a quilt of many styles such as the familiar bossa nova and samba but also the choro, maxixe, marcha, valso and baiao Boukas (acoustic guitar and vocals) and Arbo (double bass and vocals) will play and sing a variety of selections from this rich repertoire. Arbo has been a resident of Bellvale for 20 years. Active on both the upright and fretted and fretless electric basses, he has been the bassist for Les Paul and is a veteran of the Wood Herman band. He has worked with many singers, including Nell Carter, Tom Wopat, Ann Hampton Callaway and Nancy LaMott and toured with Liza Minnelli and presently with Tony Danza. Boukas is an acclaimed guitarist, vocalist, composer, educator and journalist based in New York City as well as one of today’s most prominent exponents of Brazilian music. His collaborations with top Brazilian musicians include a 12-year association with Grammy-nominated pianist Jovino Neto. Named “Best Brazilian Jazz Guitarist in the U.S.” by GuitarOne Magazine, he was guest professor at Brazil’s Campos do Jordão Festival. His several released recordings include: Balaio, Tudo de Bom, Amazôna, Embarcadero and Commitment. Play reading of 'If I Die’ Rock Tavern — “If I Die,” a play written by Lisa Kimball, will have a free reading at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Rock Tavern, on Saturday, April 16, from 5 to 8 p.m. This three act play features 14 characters who are interconnected. Each character deals with the pains of loss and the conflicts that arise when the desire to possess one’s personal story is strong. The ensemble cast delivers comedy and challenges the often avoided questions in people’s lives. Intended for an adult audience, the evening will include comments and a discussion session with the author and playwright. The church is located at 9 Vance Road, in Rock Tavern, off Route 207. For more information call 496-9696 or visit www.uucrt.org. 'Bus Stop’ stops at Lycian April 14 Sugar Loaf — The comedy “Bus Stop” will be presented at the Lycian Centre for the Performing Arts on Thursday, April 14 at 8 p.m. In this show, playwright William Inge examines some of the many faces of love. As down-home characters interact in a street corner restaurant during the course of a hilariously turbulent night, extraordinary qualities are revealed in seemingly ordinary people. Lycian officials said Bus Stop truly exemplifies America’s postwar awakening and introduces characters that have since become new cultural icons, adding “few playwrights are able to make the everyday universal and the commonplace the stuff of great theatre. Inge is one of these playwrights.” Tickets are $49.50 and 45 for adults and $37.12 and $33.75 for youth and can be purchased by calling 469-2287. Free 'Gardening on the Rocks’ program is April 30 Greenwood Lake — The “Green Thumb” garden series at the Greenwood Lake Public Library presents begins its free spring gardening programs with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Orange County master gardeners beginning Saturday, April 30. The program, “Gardening on the Rocks,” will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Cornell’s Master Gardeners will show participants how to incorporate rocks from the yard into garden as well as highlight the basics for building stone walls. Registration is required by calling 477-8377. Celebrate Earth Day at the zoo Bear Mountain — Trailside museums and the zoo in Bear Mountain State Park will celebrate Earth Day and springtime on Saturday, April 16, from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.; rain date is April 17. There will be nature-related displays, activities and games; trailside docents to help you learn about the animals and other exhibits; early attendees can help make treats for the bears — and they will come out of their dens to gobble them up at 11 a.m. Live music by the State Workers, live animal presentations and a story time will take place in the amphitheater. Call 786-2701 ext. 293 or e-mail chris.osullivan@oprhp.state.ny.us for more information. There is an $8 parking fee at Bear Mountain State Park; for more information about the Palisades Parks Conservancy and the Palisades Interstate Park parks and historic sites, visit www.palisadesparksconservancy.org.