Blog Archives

Walking the West Meadows at Montgomery Place

by Gretchen Lytle
Introduction

In early August I found time to return to Montgomery Place. My plan was to explore the west meadows, the descending space between the mansion and the river. Following trails mowed through the meadows, I looked closely for insects around and on the plants.

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Locavores, Rejoice!

Introduction

On the northern edge of Bard’s campus lies a 1.24-acre farm that harvests more than 20,0000 pounds of organic produce for the Bard community every year. And some of that produce is sold to local consumers at their farm stand on Thursdays throughout the summer and early fall. The stand is well worth a visit for anyone who relishes fresh local foods.

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Blithewood Garden

Introduction

Blithewood Garden is a handsome, classical Italianate formal garden that overlooks the Hudson River with the Catskill Mountains as a backdrop. At the beginning of the 20th century, Francis L. V. Hoppin designed both the current mansion and its formal garden set in the hillside, over 100 feet above the river.

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Bard Refugee Students: An Ambitious Program, A Perilous Journey

Introduction

Did you go away to college, landing in a new climate, a new culture, speaking a new language? Probably not. Most of us found the first step into adulthood, away from our parents, challenging enough without that daunting scenario. Bard has accepted hundreds of students who are refugees displaced by war or military occupation.

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Crash Course in the Bard Studio Arts Program

Introduction

Many of us in Bard LLI know little about the variety of programs at Bard College, some of which our LLI dues help to support with small annual contributions. One is the Bard Studio Arts Program, which receives financial help from us through Bard’s Fund for Visual Learning. The fund supplies art kits (basic materials needed to make art) and helps cover senior project costs. 

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Spring Walk Down Cruger Island Road

Introduction

After a milder-than-usual winter, one wonders whether spring will have started up sooner than in the past. We shall see. Over the COVID years, many of us took to walking more, and we could enjoy the changes of season often and directly. Right now, warmer weather and longer days draw us outdoors even more.

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Bard Symphonic Chorus: A Local Gem for Those Who Love to Sing

Introduction

The Bard Symphonic Chorus is back after a rocky off-and-on hiatus due to COVID’s halt on everything, especially activities that involve singing out and breathing deeply in close proximity to others. The chorus of about 50 to 60 singers, including several LLI members, has a long history at Bard.

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Sawkill Trail at Montgomery Place

Introduction

Many of us are discovering new trails and parks we can visit across the seasons in the Hudson Valley. Bard College alone has many paths, both around cultivated gardens and landscapes as well as through woodlands and along waterways. Montgomery Place offers several of each. One of the gifts of this strange COVID era is how much more time many of us spend outdoors.

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Rare Books on Display

Introduction

On Thursday, September 20th, the Friends of the Stevenson Library held a special opening and reception: an exhibit of 22 books from Alvin Patrick’s collection of approximately 5,000 rare or first edition books written by African Americans. Mr. Patrick titled the exhibition Faces of the Struggle: Frontispiece Portraits in African American Literature (1834 to 1949).

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Update on Montgomery Place Farm and Farm Stand

Introduction

Local residents and seasonal visitors look forward to picking up beautiful fresh produce and locally made farm offerings from June to November at the Montgomery Place Orchards Farm Stand on 9G in Red Hook, New York. Known especially for well over 60 varieties of apples, sold as they ripen and are picked,

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