Looking Forward to WinterFest

by Deborah Lanser

Introduction

Mark your calendar for December 21, the day when the WinterFest catalog will be published, so you can start planning your January schedule. As usual, the talks will be held on consecutive Wednesday mornings, starting January 7. No sign-up is required. Just log into Zoom using the link that will be sent to each LLI member and enjoy the class. You are welcome to share the Zoom link with a friend. Here’s a foretaste of WinterFest 2026’s diverse offerings.

Math and Science

Probability vs. Intuition, which is the better way to make a decision? Beth Goldberg will explain the mathematics that describe the likelihood of events occurring using probability. Afterwards, class members can compare answers based upon their intuition with the likelihood of events occurring based upon probability.

Kenneth Miller will ask Why Do We Sleep? How Can We Sleep Better? To answer those questions, he will review the history of sleep research and will weave together science and history to provide a deeper understanding of how sleep works and why it affects so much of our lives.

History, From the Hudson Valley and Beyond

The Astors were unique among the robber barons of the Gilded Age—they chose to devote their energies to the community around their Hudson Valley home rather than the social whirl of New York City. Tom Mayer will describe The Astors’ Impact on the Hudson Valley through their devotion to Red Hook, Rhinebeck, and the surrounding area.

Friends of Historic Kingston was instrumental in preserving several of the community’s historic and architecturally significant landmarks. Dean Engle, assistant director, will review the organization’s history and the legacy of the city’s preservation activists in Still Standing: Friends of Historic Kingston and the Preservation Movement.

In Jon Bowermaster Presents: From Antarctica to the Hudson, the writer, environmentalist, and filmmaker shares notes taken during his most recent frozen adventure. Jon will also preview his newest film, The Keeper, a profile of Hudson Riverkeeper’s retired patrol boat captain John Lipscomb.

Visual Arts

Elisabeth Barnett will share the challenges and joys of landscape painting, particularly plein air painting. Her class Artists Still Paint Hudson Valley Landscapes: One Artist’s Perspective, will describe the techniques of landscape painting and provide an overview of its history in the Hudson Valley from Indigenous art and artifacts to the work of contemporary artists.

In Tying Up the Clouds, Hooking the Sun: Ikat Fabric and Embroidered Suzanis from Uzbekistan, Cynthia LeCount Samaké will provide the inside story of these textile masterpieces. She will look at traditional and modern suzani varieties as well as the fascinating ikat weaving created with both hand and machine looms.

Industrial History

The imposing coaling towers that pepper the country remain an enduring symbol of the railroad modernization project started in the early 20th century. In Silent Monoliths: A Photographic Typology of Railroad Coaling Towers, Jeff Brouws, Marcella Hackbardt, and John P. Hankey will discuss the place of these remarkable structures in railroad history.

Did you know that in the 19th and 20th centuries, Poughkeepsie was a manufacturing hub for a wide variety of products? Shannon Butler will introduce us to many of the local products in Made in Poughkeepsie: 19th-Century Manufacturing.