The Beat

Mumford (August 18, 2020) – Neighbors Free Weekend at Genesee Country Village & Museum is back again this year on Saturday and Sunday, September 5 and 6, with the addition of some new neighbors! The Museum is offering free admission to residents of Caledonia, Mumford, Scottsville, Geneseo, Piffard, Retsof, and York, upon presenting legal ID or proof of residency (i.e. zip code). …

New Innovative Mobile Passport Designed to Boost Regional Recovery Efforts and Provide Economic Stimulus for Small Businesses and Attractions Across Long Island

Long Island, NY (August 13, 2020) ­– Discover Long Island has teamed up with both Nassau and Suffolk County IDAs (Industrial Development Agencies) to launch a new free mobile Downtown Deals Travel Pass. The new innovative mobile pass is designed to boost recovery efforts across the region, providing economic stimulus through incentivized marketing efforts for small businesses, restaurants, and attractions.

The passport is a free program that all locals and visitors can sign up for launching first in Farmingdale, Great Neck, Rockville Centre, Greenport, Huntington and Patchogue.  With over 100 local businesses expected to be included within the passport, it will showcase the best of these Long Island downtowns in an easy, mobile-friendly way.

Rochester, N.Y. – The Monroe County Legislature voted to rename the Greater Rochester International Airport to the Frederick Douglass—Greater Rochester International Airport in honor of one of our city’s most notable residents, Frederick Douglass. 

Douglass—abolitionists, orator, and publisher— called Rochester, NY home from 1847 to 1872, and lived here longer than anywhere else in his life. In Rochester he published his newspapers, The North Star and Frederick Douglass’ Paper, assisted friends in Underground Railroad activities, hosted runaway slaves in his home, gave speeches, supported women’s suffrage alongside Susan B. Anthony, and more. Visitors can also pay respects to Douglass as he was laid to rest in Rochester’s historic Mount Hope Cemetery. …

Plus, two more Harvest dates added; Wine and Craft Beer Festivals postponed to 2021

Bethel, NY – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, located at the historic site of the 1969 Woodstock festival, today announced the return of its annual Harvest Festival Farmers Market.  Now in its 22nd year, the farmers market will take place every Sunday for seven consecutive weeks – beginning August 30th and continuing through October 11th.

Online Contest for Kids ages 6 – 14, Presented by Clermont & Staatsburgh State Historic Sites

Staatsburg/Germantown, N.Y. – Have you ever seen fake food that looked so real, you could eat it?  Many historic house museums use faux (or fake) food as props, to help visitors imagine the time when the house was still a home, and a place for eating, sleeping, playing and working. Two local historic houses, Clermont and Staatsburgh State Historic Sites, have delicious-looking faux food made of materials that don’t attract bugs or go rotten. This August, they are presenting an online contest for kids, ages 6-14, called “Faux Food Fight,” challenging kids to create their own culinary concoctions, and to be as imaginative as they want!  You could make something that looks super-delicious to you and your family! Or you could make something your parents would never let you eat! Or maybe even something you would never want to eat!  Enter your faux culinary concoction by August 30, 2020, for a chance to win a prize.

New Paltz, NY (August 13, 2020) – Historic Huguenot Street (HHS) presents the online exhibit. “Never Was a Slave” Jacob Wynkoop, Free and Black in 19^th-Century New Paltz, and may be viewed at https://www.huguenotstreet.org/exhibits.  Jacob was born in New Paltz, New York, in 1829, the child of two former slaves, Thomas and Jane Deyo Wynkoop. Jacob had an exceptional and varied life for any man of his time, black or white. Among the first African Americans to buy land in the community, he also served in the Union Army during the Civil War, organized politically on behalf of black citizens in town, and built a series of homes that today still define a neighborhood in the village of New Paltz. Jacob and his family’s story are illuminated by historical documents and photographic materials from the HHS Archives, the Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection at the Elting Memorial Library, Town of New Paltz Records, and the Records of the Reformed Church of New Paltz. The exhibit is curated by Josephine Bloodgood, HHS Director of Curatorial and Preservation Affairs.

Southampton, N.Y. – After ten years of hosting "An Insider's View" as an interior tour of architecturally and historically significant homes, the Southampton History Museum is stepping outside this year to continue its beloved tradition with “An Outsider's View," a tour of Southampton's most beautiful gardens and landscape settings, taking place Saturday, Sept. 12 at various locations in the Village of Southampton and North Sea. 

Featuring Jimmy Fallon, Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Tiffany Haddish, Jay Leno, Kenan Thompson, Howie Mandel, Aidy Bryant, Margaret Cho, Roy Wood Jr., and More

Virtual Festival to Recognize National Comedy Center Advisory Board Member Carl Reiner, Featuring an Interview with Never-Before-Seen Footage from the Archives

National Comedy Center Virtual Festival Photos and Graphics: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lbf0p423d071v25/AABdZRcDR2y5gD-cIJsaVItIa?dl=0

Jamestown,  NY – August 12, 2020 – The National Comedy Center, the nation’s official cultural institution dedicated to comedy – recently named the “Best New Museum” in the country by USA Today --  is presenting its acclaimed Lucille Ball Comedy Festival virtually this year, featuring conversations with a diverse lineup of artists, starting this Friday, August 14, 2020 and streaming over three weekends throughout August.

Hudson, NY – The Olana Partnership is pleased to announce that it was awarded a $14,400 matching grant from the Environmental Protection Fund’s Park and Trail Partnership Grants program administered by Parks & Trails New York. The grant will fund the design of the trailhead for pedestrians entering Olana State Historic Site from the Hudson River Skywalk from State Route 23.

Constructed in 1869, North Road served as Olana’s main entrance from the City of Hudson until the site became a state Historic Site in 1966. Olana’s nationally-recognized Strategic Landscape Design Plan completed in 2015 included establishing a trailhead here, and the opening of the Hudson River Skywalk in 2019 made it the pedestrian entry point. The trailhead design will create a more visible, accessible and attractive entrance and integrate the Hudson River Skywalk with Olana's historic carriage road network.

Canandaigua, NY (August 11, 2020)  - The Producers of the Rochester Lilac Festival, Party in the Park and many other events in Rochester, NY, are pleased to work with Roseland Waterpark in Canandaigua, to continue their existing drive-in entertainment this summer.

As part of the continued series, the Drive-In Live Series at Roseland Waterpark will be adding performances by Almost Queen on August 22, Dark Star Orchestra on September 4 and G. Love and Friends on September 5. As in the past, the musical acts are LIVE and in person (not a recording) and attendees will park their vehicles and listen to live shows from the parking lot of the venue. The shows will be enhanced by full PA, digital screens and ASL interpreters.