Midtown Kingston is home to three non-profit organizations that help make it a vibrant community: the Kingston Library, the Center for Creative Education, and the Everett Hodge Center. Each offers activities and services to residents of Kingston that greatly enrich the quality of life in the city.
The Kingston Library, located on Franklin Street in a former public school, is not just a place to check out books—though that continues to be an important part of its mission, of course. Library trustee Ed Pell also organizes art exhibitions, featuring a different artists each month. The garden has also become a center of creative activity, with three resident artists occupying the Habitat for Artists shed, part of a program that provides intimate studio space designed to interact with the community.
The library hosts two story hours during the week—one for toddlers, the other for preschoolers—an origami-folding class twice a month, a weekly Wednesday evening bridge club, and two monthly book groups, one of which is led by a former college professor (the book for September is Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment) and the other focused on classics and religion. Other groups that meet at the library are geared to knitting and stress reduction through meditation. On September 11, a math circle for middle and high school students will be starting up, meeting the second Saturday through December, led by Japheth Wood, an instructor at Bard. And on September 18 at 10:30 in the morning the Robert Rivest Mime theater will perform a mime entitled “Go Green and Make a Scene,” for ages preschool and up.
New books, including those on the New York Times best seller use, are displayed on a shelf near the entrance, and one can check out books on cassette, music CDs, and even movies on DVD and in video. The library’s 19 computers, all connected to the Internet, and free Wifi keep the neighborhood connected.
Creative Center for Education, located at 20 Thomas St., is greatly expanding is after-school art and technology courses, according to executive director Ev Mann. A new “Whisper” booth in the computer music lab will enable kids to make their own recordings, and from 3-6 every Monday through Thursday kids can do their homework, get tutored, and follow up with a calls in visual arts, dance or drumming. Honor Society students at the high school and Vassar collect students serve as volunteer tutors.
On the second floor is the dance studio, where four different groups learn and perform hip hop, as par tof the energy Dance Company, and the POOK drum studio. POOK’s 15 members, ranging in age from eight to adult, will perform as the benefit for the Kingston Land Trust on September 22. Adult classes in salsa and hip hop are offered Monday night. On the third floor is the visual arts studio, where classes are offered by Bonnie O’Hara and others. A class in fashion design might be offered in the near future.
The Center will be having its big fall recital on November 13 at the high school auditorium. Next door, ground has been broken on the historic Carnegie library, which approximately in a year will open as the Center’s facilities for high school students.
The Everette Hodge Community Center, on Franklin St., continues its Friday evening Rewards for Excellence program, which teaches kids how to use the computer and encourages them to use their talents. It’s overseen by community services director Sandra Thompson-Hopgood and volunteer Donald Waters. The center has 40 computers, all with Internet access.
Also on Friday, starting at 6 pm, is Food for Thought, free healthy meals—such as vegetable lasagna and turkey loaf–for kids of all ages; from 40 to 50 children show up every Friday, and some wouldn’t be having dinner that night if it weren’t the program. Pizza pies have been donated by Mario’s Pizza and Di Bella’s Pizza Shop, and various volunteers have also donated food, including Rebecca Martin, Noelle Sheber, Ulster County clerk Nina Postupack, and Jeanne Edwards (who also volunteers as a server and helps coordinate the meals). Kingston Natural Foods, in the Rondout, has contributed nutritious eats, Rainbow, in Port Ewen, has brought in ice cream, and Broadway Lites Diner has also been supportive. Dedicated volunteers oversee the delivery, serving, and clean up. The center is in desperate need of a freezer and refrigerator, so take note if you’ve got an extra one lying around.
