Yorktown and Cortlandt region

Peekskill will have a special presentation at its Memorial Day Service, May 28. Lt. Colonel Ricardo Singleton, an active member of the U.S. Army for 28 years will be the guest speaker. Read below for more information on the event:

Lt. Colonel Ricardo Singleton will be the guest speaker at Peekskill’s Memorial Day Service on May 28 at 10 a.m. in Monument Park. Singleton, who is a Peekskill resident, has been a member of the United States Army for 28 years. He obtained his commission through the Reserve Officers Training Corp at Fordham University in January, 1985.

Singleton returned from a tour of duty in Laghman, Afghanistan last month, where he was Deputy Commanding Officer of the Provincial Reconstruction Team, a unit introduced by the United State government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable areas of Afghanistan.

His most recent tour is one of many he has served. He has also served in Operations Joint Endeavor in Bosnia, Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom in Iraq and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Singeton is a member of the American Legion Post 274 in Peekskill and a Lieutenant Colonel in the National Guard. Lt. Colonel Singleton is the recipient of two Bronze Stars, a Joint Service Commendation Service Medal, Two Department of State Meritorious Honors Medals, two Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, eight Army Reserve Components Achievement Medals, and other awards.

In addition to his membership with the American Legion, SIngleton is a member of the St. James A.M.E. Zion Church, Beacon, NY, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6396, Mount Vernon, NY, The Reserve Officer’s Association, The Civil Affairs Associat

U.S. Senator Charles Schumer has secured nearly $5 million in federal funding for Peekskill’s Hudson River Health Care.

The funding includes a federal Capital Development Building Capacity grant totaling $4.5 million and a Capital Development Immediate Facility Improvement Grant for $420,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The monies will go toward renovating and expanding the health care facility.

“For 36 years, Hudson River HealthCare has provided essential health care to the Hudson Valley,” Schumer said. “These federal funds for Hudson River HealthCare’s Peekskill facility are just what the doctor ordered for this health center to continue to deliver primary, preventative and behavioral healthcare to nearly 50,000 New Yorkers.”

A Peekskill Middle School student will head to the famed Apollo Wednesday night to compete in its Amateur Night. Read below for more information from the district on the student and his talents:

Miles J. Harvey, a sixth grader at Peekskill Middle School, will perform at the historic Apollo Theater in New York on Wednesday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. He will be participating in a famous competition, Amateur Night at the Apollo, which first began in 1934.

According to the Apollo, “Throughout the Amateur Night season, contestants from all over the world compete for the winning title and a cash prize of $10,000. Aspiring musicians, singers, dancers, comedians, rappers and spoken word artists try their best to please the audiences that can make them an Apollo legend. At Amateur Night, you tell the performers to be good or be gone.”

Tickets to the performance are $19, $25, $29 and are available In person at the Apollo Theater Box Office or by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or online at Ticketmaster.com. More information is available at the Apollo Theater Web site, www.apollotheater.org/programs/amateur-night. A free Apollo Amateur Night App can be downloaded from iTunes, and provides the chance to follow the competition from a cell phone.

 Despite his youth, Miles J. Harvey has delighted Peekskill audiences with his singing talents for many years. He starred in last year’s Suessical the Musical at Peekskill High School, and has appeared in many school and community concerts. He has also had a small part on television’s Law and Order. He is shown in the photo at the Peekskill Middle School Winter Concert.

The Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art is hosting a panel discussion on Sunday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. with artist Gregory Amenoff. Read below for details from HVCCA on the event:

Join us for a lively discussion between Gregory Amenoff, artist and Chair of Columbia University’s MFA Department, and two of his former students Francesca DiMattio (represented by Salon 94) & Josephine Halvorson (represented by Sikkema Jenkins & Co.). The trio will discuss Amenoff’s work in the 1980s to the present and the influence of the 1980s on their art practice today.

 Gregory Amenoff, was born in St. Charles Illinois and received his BA from Beloit College in Wisconsin, he currently resides in New York City and Ulster County. Amenoff’s work is largely comprised of lush semi-abstract landscape paintings as well as works on paper. He is the recipient of numerous awards from organizations including the American Academy of Arts and Letters, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts and Tiffany Foundation. He has had over fifty one-person exhibitions in museums and galleries throughout the United States and Europe.

Amenoff’s work is in the permanent collections of more than thirty museums, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Peekskill High School Drama Club is getting ready to open “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,” at the end of the month.

Read below for more information from the school district on the upcoming performance:

The Peekskill High School Drama club proudly presents You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown on Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28 at 7:30 pm and on Sunday, April 29 at 2 pm in the PHS Auditorium, 1072 Elm Street, Peekskill. Tickets can be purchased in the PHS lobby on Tuesdays from 4-6 pm and at the Middle School lobby on Saturdays 10 am -12 pm as well as at the door before performances. Prices are $15 for Adults, $10 for Students, $5 for Seniors and Children under 10. Adults and Students can save $2 if you purchase by April 21. For more information and easy ticket orders contact phs.tkts@gmail.com.

Junior Michael Snell leads the cast as Charlie Brown, and senior Stephanie Gil plays his friend and sometime nemesis Lucy van Pelt. Lucy’s little blanket-loving brother Linus is portrayed by junior Lucas Sanchez. Sophomore Afua Yeboah plays Charlie’s precocious little sister Sally and sophomore Sterling Fite is the musically gifted Schroeder. Anyone who ever wondered what Snoopy is thinking or how he would sound if he could sing will have their curiosity satisfied in the personification of Snoopy as portrayed by sophomore Sheridan Alexander. Other familiar Peanuts characters join in, including Brandi Overby as Peppermint Patty, Ursala Jones as Pig Pen, Kyleah Mulligan as Violet, Arianna Memoli as Marcy, Paige Hill as The Little Red-Headed Girl and Brittany Brown and Quiana Malcolm as the dancing twins.

You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown was first produced on Broadway in 1967 with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner, based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz. The Peekskill High School cast will use the score from the Broadway revival in 1998, which offers new songs by composer Andrew Lippa, adds the character of Sally Brown and has more contemporary musical arrangements.

Snoopy has two of the show’s very fun song and dance numbers, but there are many more fabulous songs that span genres from standard Broadway to R&B, gospel, classical and more. There is even a complex Madrigal about a book report on Peter Rabbit and a retelling of a baseball game in good ol’ waltz time. The brightly-colored, oversized set design is executed by Stagecraft Advisor Cat Griffin and her student technical crew. A small ensemble of professional musicians will accompany the show, conducted by music director Brian Zane. Costumes by Olga Stone transform every actor into their young character.

This family friendly show offers something for everyone. Not only will adults have a chance to visit once again with these beloved Charles Schultz characters, but a whole new generation will be introduced to the beloved blockhead and his Peanuts gang.

The city of Peekskill will host a Parks Clean-Up Day and painting project at Peekskill Middle School through its C.L.E.A.N. (Committing to Litter Enforcement and Adopting Neighborhoods) initiative.

The city, the middle school and the Peekskill Westside Neighborhood  Association will display and award painted litter oil drums display on Saturday, April 21, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Read below for more information Westside Neighborhood Association on the event:

 The tradition continues, of adopting, cleaning and displaying community pride in litter-free City of Peekskill parks, Saturday, April 21, 2012, 8 am – 12 noon, in each of the City’s seven parks. As part of the City-Wide Parks CLEAN-up day, the Peekskill Middle School, Peekskill Westside Neighborhood Association, with sponsorship by the City of Peekskill, continue for its fifth year “Paint a C.L.E.A.N. Footprint” at Riverfront Green in support of the City of Peekskill’s C.L.E.A.N. initiative (Committing to Litter Enforcement and Adopting Neighborhoods).

 This year, a “CLEAN Favorite” will be chosen by members of a selection committee, 12 noon – 1 pm at lunch at Riverfront Green, sponsored by the City of Peekskill, for the Parks clean-up volunteers. Peekskill Middle School art students, guided by art teachers Patricia Roldan and Liz Damiano who are concentrating their curriculum on traditional paint rendering skills, paint open-top 55-gallon oil drums that serve as litter receptacles at one of the City’s seven parks.

This year the art students chose two themes they felt would represent the CLEAN initiative. One is images of product packaging, as the oil drums serve as repositories for this as litter; the other is recognizable cartoon characters who are showing “CLEAN,” i.e. litter-free, clean-up practices, which the Middle School students think would appeal to younger children. “Paint a CLEAN Footprint” is the brainchild of a group of Westside neighbors who saw an opportunity to advance the goals of the CLEAN initiative and the annual City-Wide Parks Litter CLEAN-Up day. While Westside neighbors agree that litter enforcement is a key to cleaner City parks and neighborhood streets, many neighbors agreed that educating younger residents to “Go CLEAN” will discourage littering in the future.

Professional mural artist, jewelry designer, and Westside neighbor, Beth DeWit says, “I’m so glad the students think and look forward to ‘Paint a CLEAN Footprint’ and we’re continuing this tradition. Next year we’ll really make an early and strong effort to engage the professional artists community too.”

The Peekskill Museum will host a special event Saturday, April 14 at 2 p.m. Read below for more information from the museum about it:

President Lincoln made a clandestine trip to the U.S. Military Academy in the middle of the Civil War in June 1862. It was his longest journey away from the White House and his only trip to N.Y. State during his entire presidency. Based upon some new, original research, Anthony Czarnecki reveals why Lincoln came to West Point, what he did during his three-day stay in the Hudson River Valley, and how history changed as a result of his secret visit to West Point.

Mr. Czarnecki’s findings will be published in the Spring 2012 issue of NEW YORK HISTORY Journal. Join us for a preview of his fascinating account of this historic event

The Peekskill Museum will host a program on the Underground Railroad and the city’s involvement. Read more information from museum officials on the event:

Peekskill’s historic involvements with the Underground Railroad national system of helping runaway enslaved African Americans will be the topic of a program at the Peekskill Museum on Sunday, March 18th starting at 2pm.

Two organizers of the local Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad tours, La Fern Joseph and Waymond Brothers will speak about their many activities in researching and advocating interest about Peekskill’s connections to the humanitarian movement. They have hosted a regional symposium on this topic for several years.

Adrienne E. Wheeler is a direct descendant of the African American Peekskill couple who were leaders with the local Underground Railroad. Ms. Wheeler will talk about Hawley and Harriet Green’s family, using documents that have recently come to her attention.

The program is free to members, and a $5 donation is requested of nonmembers. Peekskill Museum is located at 124 Union Avenue in Peekskill, NY Submitted by John Curran

Peekskill hosts its 23rd annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade this Saturday with BOCES educator to lead. Read below for more information from the city on the event:

Who: Grand Marshal Elizabeth Mitchell Marques, Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES television and film instructor and four aides, Community Volunteer Frances Catalina; Assumption Church Rev. John Higgins; Peekskill Police Lt. Cathy Johansen and The Stadium Owner James Walsh.

What: 23rd Annual Peekskill St. Patrick’s Parade Day Schedule

Where: The parade steps off at 3pm, starting at the Fire House on S. Division St., makes a left on First St., right on Union Ave., right on Central Ave., left on N. Division St., right on Main St., right on N. James St., then right on Brown St. The reviewing stand will be on the corner of James & Park Streets.

St. Patrick’s Mass at Assumption Church at 1:30PM – 2:30PM

Brunch, Peekskill Elks Lodge, 1038 Brown Street at 11:30am – 1PM

The Kumon Math and Reading Center in Mohegan Lake is hosting an event Sasturday to benefit Peekskill student literacy. Read below for information from the Peekskill City School District on the event:

A Peekskill friend and neighbor, Miranda Koss, is supporting Peekskill student literacy this weekend. Her Kumon Math and Reading Center, located in Mohegan Lake, is holding an Open House for interested families on Saturday, March 3 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ms. Koss is asking her visitors to bring donations of children’s book to the Center with them; a gift of books—new or used is fine—will entitle the donor to raffle tickets for the prize of movie passes.

The Kumon Math and Reading Center is located at 1950 East Main Street in Mohegan Lake, Suite 205. According to Ms. Koss, at the Kumon Center she has worked successfully as a professional learning coach for children from “just over one up through high school.” She encourage families to drop by to learn about the tutoring program, She is asking for donations for books for the Peekskill Schools; “any grade level is great.”