Main Street News

You wonder about these things. How did it all come about? It’s likely widely known by now that New York City has clean water because it comes from pure and rural mountains. However, to create the water system, thousands of people lost homes and businesses. Over the last nine years, Dr. April Beisaw, associate professor of Anthropology at Vassar College, and her students have documented the ruins of communities along the watershed.

On Wednesday, July 8, from 6-8 p.m., Dr. April Beisaw presents The Archaeology of New York City’s Watershed Communities.

Dr. April M. Beisaw is a professor of anthropology at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. There she teaches courses in archaeology, forensic anthropology, Native American culture, and museum studies. April’s 40 publications include the books Taking Our Water for the City: The Archaeology of New York City’s Watershed Communities (2023), The Archaeology of American Protests (2025), and Identifying and Interpreting Animal Bones: A Manual (2013). The Putnam County Historian’s Office awarded April with the Local History Publication Award for “Taking Our Water.” April recently served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar at the Natural History Museum Vienna, Austria.

BRIDGE CLUB

Along with the 23,633 things I’ve thought I would like to learn one day, someday, bridge remains among the items at the top of the list. May happen yet. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, July 1, and subsequent Wednesdays, Bridge Club meets at 2 p.m. in the Non-Fiction Room for a one-hour refresher lesson for new players and those who’ve grown rusty from disuse of their bridge muscle.

Open Bridge play for all experience levels follows, starting at 3 p.m.

Stanford Library – Stanfordville, NY

PRE-K & K SUMMER STORY TIME

Registration – available on the library website — is now underway for Pre-K & K Summer Story Time.

Toddlers meet Tuesdays and Thursdays July 7, 9, 14, and 16 at 10:30. Toddlers’ session two is held at the same time on July 21, 23, 28 and 30.

Preschoolers and kindergartners meet Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Session one is planned for July 6, 8, 13 and 15, with session two set for July 20, 22, 27, and 29.

Grades 1-3 are scheduled to meet Mondays at 11 a.m. Session one is scheduled for
July 6 and 13, and session two on July 20 and 27.

BRAIN GAMES

On the other end of the spectrum, the library is “calling all seniors to join in the fun and laughter of our ‘brain games’ fun, promising fun, stimulating, invigorating word games and trivia with lots of conversation and laughter.”

Brain Games convenes Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

Chatham Public Library – Chatham, NY

Interested in developing/honing/working on your writing skills? There’s no time like the present, as the man says. New members are always welcome.

The Chatham Writing Group meets monthly on the first Tuesday of the month from 10:30 a.m. to noon. This is an informal group that meets to explore the craft of writing. They comment on, critique each other’s work, and read to one another.

The goal of this group is to thoughtfully and honestly learn and grow together. The Oasis Journal 2017 and the Spencertown Community Writers program have featured some members’ writing. In addition, the Chatham Writing Group presents a reading for the public in the library annually