April 2001 online edition

The river itself becomes a focus in the summer, with lots of concerts planned along the shore. Music lovers and picnickers will start listening in June with a series of 12 concerts planned by Jazz Forum Arts for the Second Annual Dobbs Ferry Music Series on Wednesday evenings.

In July, the swinging sounds continue with summer concerts scheduled for Riverfront Green Park, Peekskill, on Wednesdays and on Thursdays at both Sleepy Hollow and Ossining. On Fridays, Yonkers will come alive to the sound of music, with concerts and movies with a Yonkers theme planned for sunset at Yonkers Pier.

Music extravaganzas at Croton Point Park include Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival on Father's Day weekend, June 16 and 17. On August 18 and 19 the Bayou Blues Concert, will be back with continuous music from noon to dusk. The radio station WHUD is in the middle of planning its second annual festival.

A little later than usual this year, the Annual Sunnyside Jazz Festival will be held beside the Hudson River at Washington Irving's Sunnyside in Tarrytown on September 15 and 16 with continuous open-air jazz performances from noon to 7 p.m.

Friends of Music, Inc. has moved its 2001-2002 season south to the Sleepy Hollow High School auditorium. It has a full schedule of six classic concerts planned from September through April. More classical music will be played at the annual Summit Music Festival during July and August at Marymount College in Tarrytown.

The annual Jeffrey Weis Memorial Concert will be held in Lyndhurst's historic Carriage House and the Frances Heim Memorial Concerts will be performed in Briarcliff Manor during the spring.

Organ recitals are scheduled at the Union Church of Pocantico Hills and the Old Dutch Church in Sleepy Hollow; concerts in libraries, the Paramount Center for the Arts and Tarrytown Music Hall; and there will be music at all the community festivals.

Celebrations, as usual, follow the seasons beginning with a welcome back to the shad in the spring. Mother's Day brings special walks and picnics. Independence Day festivities provide a touch of patriotism with rousing speeches and pie-judging competitions. Halloween centers around the haunts of Washington Irving -- and the area is referred to as "The Halloween Capital of the World." The grand finale to the year are the candlelight tours of the historic sites.

As the weather warms up, guided tours are conducted in historic and cultural areas. Walks around Sparta in southern Ossining provide a glimpse of the past; visits to artists' studios and galleries during the Peekskill Artist District Tours are highly rated as are the Underground Railroad tours; and no-one should miss the tour of the Old Dutch Church and Old Burying Ground in Sleepy Hollow.

The Historic River Towns Trolley will be back this fall with loops through Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow and Irvington -- and occasional special events in other municipalities.

The wonderful open spaces in the region are used to full advantage. Hikes along the Old Croton Aqueduct attract visitors from all over. The bird migration corridor makes for excellent viewing for bird watchers in all seasons. Rockefeller State Park, Teatown Lake Reservation, George's Island, Croton Point Park, Brinton Brook Sanctuary, and lots of smaller parks provide hundreds of natural acres to explore.

And, yes, residents and visitors can get out on the river. Kayak companies arrange tours, New York Waterway offers weekend cruises from Manhattan, and on the last Saturday of each month the historic M/V Commander sails out of Riverfront Green in Peekskill. Several sailing courses are offered for want-to-be sailors.

Food will be an even bigger attraction this year. Besides the extremely popular 18th Century Dinners at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton, the Country Teas at Sunnyside, and the cooking workshops, a Culinary Festival will have its inauguration at Lyndhurst. During the relatively slow time of August, "Tastes of the Hudson" will feature regional specialties and gourmet leaders.

Art in the Hudson Valley is always a priority, and the myriad of galleries provide a galaxy of shows featuring contemporary and historic art. Similarly, landscape and garden tours continue to grow in popularity, with some of them sold out well in advance.

Annual events such as "Pinkster" at Philipsburg Manor, Fall and Spring Craft Shows at Lyndhurst, Animals and Acrobats and Tavern Days at Van Cortlandt Manor, and Metro-North's Open House are all held in front of the backdrop of ongoing community activities. Rotary Club Car Shows, Horse Shows, library book sales and lectures, events at the houses of worship, nursery school fairs, ethnic celebrations, farmers' markets and fire department parades dot the calendars of every municipality.

Historic River Towns of Westchester has prepared a year-long calendar as a guide to many of these events. It may be visited on the web at www.hudsonriver.com, where monthly calendars also provide expanded, more-up-to-date versions.