Highlands Current Audio Stories

Cold Spring asks residents to move cars

The Village of Cold Spring has asked residents near the Clinton Funeral Home and Our Lady of Loretto to move their vehicles for the wake and funeral of Putnam County Sheriff Kevin McConville, who died Aug. 22.

The wake is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday (Aug. 25) at Clinton at 21 Parrott St. To accommodate the family and visitors, there will be no street parking all day at these locations:

Pine Street, both sides, from Pearl Street to the end of Grove Court

Parrott Street, both sides, from Maple Terrace to Bank Street (the length of the street)

Main Street, both sides, from Cedar to Orchard streets

For the Mass and burial, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Wednesday at Our Lady of Loretto, there will be no on-street parking until after the funeral procession at about 1 p.m.:

Main Street, both sides, from Route 9D to Stone Street

Cross Street, both sides, length of street

Garden Street, both sides, length of street

On Wednesday, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., there will be no deliveries allowed. The following streets will be closed to traffic:

Fair Street, from Northern Avenue to Main Street

Cross Street

Railroad Avenue

Editor's note: Beacon was created in 1913 from Matteawan and Fishkill Landing.

150 Years Ago (August 1875)

About 400 Black residents of Fishkill Landing, Peekskill, Cold Spring and other nearby locations had planned an Emancipation Day excursion for Aug. 11 but were left disappointed on the dock. The steamer Echo was going to take the group and two bands to Poughkeepsie, but the captain said the pickup had to be at 7 a.m. because it had other engagements. According to a news report, he waited until 8:30 a.m. before leaving, but not everyone had arrived, and the affair was postponed.

As the Saratoga Special was passing through Dutchess Junction, late by 10 minutes, a broken bolt flew from the engine at the speed of a bullet. It passed between a couple, cutting the ribbon in the woman's hat, and struck the depot between two boys sitting there. After cutting a 1¾-inch hole in the iron sheathing, it rebounded and hit the station agent in the shoulder, ripping through his coat and causing a slight wound.

W.H Mase of Matteawan purchased eight shares of the National Bank of Fishkill at auction for $105 each [about $3,100 today].

After driving to Murphy's saloon on the Matteawan road, Theodore Hyatt offered two 7-year-old boys 50 cents [$15] to water his horse. When the boys approached the horse with a pail, it suddenly bit one of them in the face, shook him and threw him 4 feet. The boy suffered a severe wound to his cheek.

The Fishkill Landing Machine Co. was still using the 50-foot main belt installed 22 years earlier, when the plant opened. It was double thick and 12 inches wide.

Theodore Wood was going downhill toward the river when he rear-ended a wagon driven by Samuel Leith. Wood's horse broke its neck.

A watch stolen from Mrs. H.H. Hustis of Fishkill Landing was recovered at a jewelry store in Newburgh, where it had been sold for $8 [$235].

For reasons not reported, Robert Gibson, assistant superintendent of the Newburgh Water Works, fired a pistol at Alfred Post, president of the Highland National Bank, on the street in Newburgh on a Tuesday afternoon. The bullet grazed Post's neck; Gibson aimed for a second shot but forgot to cock the gun.

The Empires of Matteawan hosted the Kelloggs of Cold Spring for a Saturday afternoon baseball game, winning 24-23 in 10 innings.

125 Years Ago (August 1900)

Patrick Murray of Fishkill Landing was contracted to rehabilitate the Groveville Carpet Mills property for $8,000 [$300,000]. There were new roofs and about 1,000 panes of glass to be installed; the job was expected to take 20 men about two months.

George Moore of Fishkill Landing, with the assistance of a Washington, D.C, agent, received a back military pension of $806.93 [$31,000]. He had served during the Civil War with the 19th Regiment from Newburgh.

Mary Phelps retired after 30 years as the manager and operator of the Western Union Telegraph Co. office at Fishkill Landing.

The Matteawan Manufacturing Co. erected a tent on a Leonard Street lot to make hatboxes because of the lack of space in its factory. The firm had expanded its fur hat business, which occupied the former straw hat space, to include wool hats.

Andrew DeGroat, the ferryboat engineer, died at age 53 of mouth cancer. Fifteen co-workers attended the funeral at his home and then took his remains by ferry to Newburgh for interment. The ferry company contributed a floral arrangement shaped like an anchor.

School district residents in Fishkill Landing and Matteawan voted to provide free textbooks to students.

According to the Matteawan Journal, a freight train made an unscheduled stop at midnight at Fishkill Landing to unload a livestock car. Unfortunately, the 13 bulls inside had broken a thin partition and trampled the 51 calves, killing 11. The carcasses were removed, the bulls moved to a new car and the train continued to New York City.

100 Years Ago (August 1925)

The position of railway post office clerk on trains between Beacon and Pine Plains was eliminated be...

Beacon Historical Society opens exhibit on Camp Nitgedaiget

Just 2 miles south of Beacon, working-class Jewish progressives and Communist sympathizers from New York City gathered for over 30 years at a 250-acre refuge in Dutchess Junction.

Amid ballfields, hiking trails and clusters of bungalows, they exercised, socialized, read the Community Party USA's Daily Worker newspaper, listened to lectures by socialist writers and enjoyed performances by Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.

That history is the foundation of Beacon's Camp Nitgedaiget: A Vanished Utopia, an exhibit running through November at the Beacon Historical Society. Two galleries filled with photos, postcards, newspaper clippings and artifacts found at the site are devoted to Nitgedaiget, founded in 1922 by immigrant garment workers as one of dozens of socially progressive camps in New York state.

A third gallery highlights a housing cooperative comprising more than 700 apartments they built in the Bronx, with materials borrowed from the Bronx County Historical Society.

Diane Lapis, a BHS trustee, began rebuilding the history of Nitgedaiget ("no worries" in Yiddish) a decade ago, after a friend from the organization found, in the Library of Congress, photos of the camp taken in 1937. "Besides fresh air and sunshine, there were physical activities - they had winter sports, summer sports," Lapis said.

Participants in the camp's theater productions performed songs based on "proletarian" themes, such as "socialism, communism and working together - developing strength and unity to work against the big bosses," she said.

Nitgedaiget's roots began in 1910, when garment workers living in the tenements of New York City's Lower East Side formed the United Workers Cooperative Association. Members sought improved living and working conditions and embraced civil rights, social security and health and unemployment insurance.

The Dutchess Junction property, now part of Hudson Highlands State Park Preserve, straddled Route 9D. Its west side featured a four-story, 56-room hotel, a dining hall, sports facilities, a lake and access to fishing and boating on the Hudson River; the east had a pool and waterfall, hundreds of bungalows, platform tents and a gathering hall for dancing, entertainment and lectures.

Because of its Communist sympathies, "there was always a lens on the camp," said Lapis. In 1927, the camp managers received a letter from the Ku Klux Klan demanding that they "withdraw from this territory or else we will take severe measures against you." Hamilton Fish III, the congressman from Philipstown who crusaded against Communism, dispatched representatives to investigate the camp.

Several factors contributed to Nitgedaiget's demise in the 1950s, Lapis said, including financial mismanagement and disillusionment with the Communist Party after Russia's Joseph Stalin signed a non-aggression pact with Adolf Hitler. In addition, the children of Nitgedaiget's first generation of working-class campers began to go to college and move into white-collar jobs.

"They now have a car, or access to other ways of vacationing, so that the original intention of the camp changes," she said.

The Beacon Historical Society, at 61 Leonard St., is open from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursdays and 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. See beaconhistorical.org.

Sheriff Kevin J. McConville passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. He was exactly where he wanted to be: in his bed, in his home, surrounded by his family. He was 68 years old.

McConville was a lifelong resident of Cold Spring. He was born on Jan. 31, 1957, and raised in the village, where he lived with his parents, former Mayor Ronald McConville and Marjorie "June" McConville, and his siblings, Barbara, Ronnie and Dickie.

McConville graduated from Haldane High School in 1975 and received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Marist University. In 1982, he married his high school sweetheart, Janice Brigati, and together they raised their three children - Ryan, Kylie and Ilana - in the same house he grew up in, in the village he adored.

McConville was a man of devotion: to his family, his friends, his community and to his work. He was a proud police officer, a career he treated with unflinching reverence and respect. With more than 30 years of service in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police Department, he began his career as a patrolman, rising through the ranks to become the first member from the agency to be appointed chief of police in 2005. Prior to becoming chief, McConville was first deputy chief, captain of the District 6 Command, captain of the Department Manual Development Team and held roles as sergeant, lieutenant and detective, as well as executive officer in various units.

During his tenure as chief, he created the Interagency Counter Terrorism Team, worked closely with the FBI and members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force and created a 50-team canine (K9) unit. He managed the MTA's response at Grand Central on Sept. 11, 2001, coordinating alongside local and state police agencies to ensure Grand Central, railways and subway lines were safe and secure. He was chief during the London and Madrid bombings, where he assisted the MTAPD response and developed strategies and deployment plans that were instrumental to maintaining public safety and security. He was also a member of the Governor's Homeland Security Team.

After retiring as chief in 2008, he served as director of security at Hudson Valley Hospital Center (now NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley Hospital) in Cortlandt until 2020. In 2021, he was elected sheriff of Putnam County, where he was incredibly proud to serve the community and county that he loved. Under his leadership, he improved working conditions for the men and women of his department by implementing safer, more efficient and appropriate services such as a new records management system and a new jail management system.

He ensured that a radio communication system, which was years in the making, went into effect and obtained new vehicles for officers. He routinely worked with schools and leadership teams to keep students and faculty safe and partnered with local mental health and domestic violence organizations to provide support, services and resources for those in need.

In December 2024, McConville and the Sheriff's Department achieved Division of Criminal Justice Services State Accreditation in Law Enforcement, a major achievement and benefit to all county residents. In addition, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office Response Team met the standards for SWAT Team Certification. The Sheriff's Department became the only agency in Putnam County to receive DCJS accreditation, let alone two certifications.

McConville was a public servant in every sense of the word, devoting his life to serving others with integrity, courage and compassion. He was a trustee of the New York State Sheriff's Association and a lifelong member of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, the New York State Fraternal Order of Police, Stephen P. Driscoll Lodge No. 704, the Hudson Valley 10-13 Association, Knights of Columbus Council No. 36318 and the Brewster Elks Lodge No. 2101.

His family was exceptionally proud of his professional achievements, but at hom...

Route 9D to Little Stony Point deemed 'unwalkable'

Sidewalks dominated the discussion at the Aug. 13 meeting of the Cold Spring Village Board. Concerns increased recently after a wheelchair-bound village resident tipped over along Morris Avenue/Route 9D near Hamilton Street, at the north end of the village.

The incident prompted a meeting at Village Hall at which the state Department of Transportation agreed to allow the village to replace the asphalt sidewalk between Whitehill Place and the Haldane football field.

Mayor Kathleen Foley said the project, being implemented "until there is a larger plan for 9D," will cost about $30,000. She said she hopes Putnam County, the Town of Philipstown and the Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail will contribute financially. The work will be done "in kind" by local highway crews.

The "larger plan for 9D" relates to HHFT having identified Dockside Park as its preferred southern gateway to the 7.5-mile trail being constructed between Cold Spring and Beacon. Foley and Philipstown Supervisor John Van Tassel have advocated starting the trail at Little Stony Point, with a series of improved sidewalks leading there from the village. The final route is yet to be decided.

During the Aug. 13 meeting, the board voted 4-1 to pay Hahn Engineering up to $2,000 to estimate the cost of installing sidewalks on both sides of Route 9D from the northern boundary of the village to the Washburn Trail parking lot opposite Little Stony Point. The cost of the Hahn study will be split with Philipstown.

Foley said pedestrians along that route encounter "holes you can put your foot in, up to your ankle" and that foot traffic can be expected to increase as the fall hiking season begins. She noted that from May to July, visits to the Washburn and Cornish trails increased by 6.6 percent over last year. Along the entire corridor, where Breakneck and the Metro-North platform are closed for HHFT construction, usage is down 47 percent.

Trustee Aaron Freimark voted against the Hahn study, saying it would be spending village money on an analysis of a sidewalk that's not on village property.

Foley responded that the estimate will be used to negotiate sidewalk improvements with the Department of Transportation (DOT), state parks and HHFT. "It is in villagers' best interest to have a sidewalk there," she said.

DOT estimates the project, which requires relocating power lines and constructing a retaining wall, will cost $1 million. The Hahn study will fine-tune that estimate.

Foley said DOT encouraged Cold Spring and Philipstown to apply jointly for funding through its Transportation Alternatives Program. Trustee Andrew Hall described the study as an "investment to unlock funding to improve the infrastructure of the village."

In other action, the board tabled a letter from the mayor addressed to state parks and HHFT about the "not safely walkable" Route 9 approach to Little Stony Point and the Washburn Trail from the village. A new draft will be considered at the Wednesday (Aug. 27) meeting.

The Philipstown Town Board approved a similar letter at its Aug. 7 from Van Tassel to state parks, although an accusation that HHFT was "directing the general public to walk along the shoulder of Route 9D" was removed. Board Member Jason Angell noted that advisories to pedestrians about construction-related closures do not use those words, and that other routes are available.

Foley reported that a Breakneck Closures Logistics Working Group has been formed with municipal representatives from Cold Spring, Nelsonville and Philipstown, as well as state parks, HHFT and the Haldane school district, which has raised concerns because hiking apps encourage people to park at the school and use the campus as a short cut to trails.

In other business…

Marjorie Gage was appointed as village clerk-treasurer through Dec 1. She will earn a pro-rated annual salary of $72,000; the position had been hourly. Greg Henson resigned as clerk-treasurer on June 10.

The boa...

Would deter commuters from South Mountain Pass

The Philipstown Town Board on Wednesday (Aug. 20) discussed installing gates at two spots on South Mountain Pass to deter commuters from using the road to bypass closures and congestion on the Goat Trail.

Supervisor John Van Tassel said that gates could be installed at South Mountain Pass Spur and Putnam Ridge, creating a "dead section" of road that has no homes. The section would be cleared of snow after storms and emergency responders would have access to the gates, he said, adding that the road is also used as a bypass if Route 403 is closed.

The idea is "very preliminary," said Van Tassel, and needs to be evaluated for its legality. Local engineer Badey & Watson is being tasked with staking out the town's right-of-way, and the U.S. Postal Service and Garrison school district still need to be consulted, he said.

Although the gates would create a "safe environment," he acknowledged there would be "some inconvenience" for residents. "If you live somewhere near South Mountain Pass spur and you want to go to Route 9, it's going to take you a longer time to get there," said Van Tassel. "If you're on the other side, and you want to go to 9D, it's going to delay your trip."

Theresa Orlandi, who lives off South Mountain Pass on Coppermine Road, predicted that her commute would increase by 15 minutes. She asked about options such as enforcing speed limits or installing speed humps.

Van Tassel said that the town has asked the Putnam County Sheriff's Office to conduct enforcement on roads, but it is residents who are getting ticketed. The town considered adding speed humps to paving planned on the Route 9 end of the road, but they present problems for plows, he said.

Orlandi said that "turning the road into one-way only for certain residents, that seems to be a completely unsatisfactory outcome. There's got to be something."

Alex Cucchiarella, who commutes from South Mountain Pass to New York City each day, said it was hard to "wrap my head around the reality" of the gates.

"The gate is a big issue if we can't get through," he said. "There are plenty of scenarios in this world where we can control the access, and I really ask you to look at that because it's a monumental lifestyle shift for all of us here."

Russell Dushin suggested the gate be timed so that the road only closes when the Goat Trail closes, so "people would get the message." If South Mountain Pass were occasionally closed, "they wouldn't do what they do today," he said.

Van Tassel said that delineating the town's right-of-way will also help identify where residents have "been encroaching" onto town property with fences and stonewalls, creating narrower sections of roadway. "Where people have encroached on it, we will be pushing back," he said.

In other business…

The board reappointed Brian Kenney as the part-time assessor for a six-year term that begins Oct. 1. Kenney is also the assessor for the Town of Orangetown in Rockland County.

Susan Kenney was appointed the supervisor's clerk after what Van Tassel called a "brief retirement" from her job as the town's assistant budget officer.

The board authorized the town court to apply for a grant of up to $30,000 from the state's Justice Court Assistance Program, which provides for expenses such as automation, technology, law books and training.

Layout reconfigured at Fjord Trail hub

Hudson Highlands Fjord Trail Inc. has reconfigured the parking layout at Dutchess Manor, which it plans to restore as a visitor's center and staff offices, in response to concerns from neighbors about views from their properties.

Amy Kacala, HHFT's executive director, presented the revisions to the Town of Fishkill Planning Board at its Aug. 14 meeting. The number of parking spaces planned will remain at 181, including spaces at a nearby building at 14 Coris Lane. But the revised plan calls for focusing expansion on the existing lot and replacing paved space proposed to the south with gravel and grass.

Those areas will be limited to occasional overflow parking, and a buffer of vegetation along the lawn will shield a private home at 20 Coris Lane. The overflow area will be gated and should "keep most of the parking further away from the neighbors, most of the year," she said.

In addition, standalone restrooms for the estimated 36,000 annual visitors to the center will be relocated to a sunken courtyard on the south side of the main building. Kacala said HHFT had been "struggling with, from a design perspective, the resthouse and how you add a building next to the historic building without those two things fighting."

The restrooms will be "earth-sheltered" on three sides and capped with a green roof, she said. Visitors will use a stairway to access an event lawn behind Dutchess Manor or to enter the building from the rear.

Introduced in July 2024, the Dutchess Manor project involves the demolition of structures added when the property served as an event and catering venue, and the restoration of historical features that have been effaced since its construction in 1868 as a home for merchant James Wade and his wife, Louisa.

Frank Timoney, an Irish immigrant who grew wealthy operating three brickyards at Dennings Point, bought the property in 1889. According to the Beacon Historical Society, George Coris, a furrier from New York City, purchased the property at a tax sale in 1944. His family operated it as a hotel, restaurant and bar and event space until the pandemic.

In addition to approvals for its site plan and a special-use permit, HHFT wants to rezone 14 Coris Lane. It plans to revive the structure's original slate roof and rear patio, remove paint to expose brickwork and rebuild trim. Inside, HHFT would create first-floor spaces for a welcome desk and exhibits, upper-floor offices and meeting space and install an elevator.

Along with the 14,530-square-foot lawn for events and picnicking, HHFT plans a drop-off area for buses shuttling hikers between the center, trailheads and parking areas planned for Route 9D, along with electric-vehicle charging stations and new landscaping and lighting.

A traffic study did not identify any significant impacts, HHFT said, but was updated to include a left-turn lane for northbound vehicles that would need to be approved by the state Department of Transportation.

Transportation council issues draft estimates

A nearly two-year study of a proposed biking and walking trail between Beacon and Hopewell Junction recommended tearing out 13 miles of unused railroad tracks at a cost of $46 million to $56 million rather than installing the path alongside them.

In a virtual presentation on Wednesday (Aug. 20), Mark Debald, transportation program administrator with the Dutchess County Transportation Council, and two engineers with Barton & Loguidice, said that keeping the tracks and widening their corridor to add an adjacent trail would cost $130 million to $150 million, have greater environmental impacts and require land purchases.

Their recommendations, which can be viewed at beaconhopewellrailtrail.com and are open for comment through Sept. 12, call for five phases of construction along the unused tracks, which are called the Beacon Line and owned by Metro-North.

The westernmost section would begin at Long Dock Park in Beacon and run 3.6 miles to Jan Van Pelt Park in the Town of Fishkill, winding around the city's southern perimeter before running along Fishkill Creek, parallel with Tioronda Avenue and the east end of Main Street. Major Beacon crossings would include Churchill Street and East Main Street (at the dummy light).

The trail would continue underneath Route 9D (at Tioronda) and hug northbound Route 52 (Fishkill Avenue) to the city line on its way to Jan Van Pelt. That segment, which is projected to be the most used because of Beacon's population density, would cost $8 million to $10 million, said Chris Hannett of Barton & Loguidice.

From Jean Van Pelt Park, the trail would continue 2 miles to Sarah Taylor Park in the Village of Fishkill, cross Route 9 to connect to a 1.7-mile stretch to Doug Phillips Park in the Town of Fishkill, and wind 4.1 miles to the trailhead at the Hopewell Depot Museum in East Fishkill. From there, bikers and cyclists could access the Dutchess Rail Trail and Maybrook Trailway.

The study also recommends repurposing and rehabbing six existing bridges, building a seventh over Route 9 and considering two more over Routes 52 and 82.

Funding the trail will be a challenge, said Debald. "We need to identify an agency or municipalities that are willing to apply for funding and potentially manage and design and construct a project, whether it's a phase or the entire trail," he said. "Things take time."

The report identifies other hurdles:

Because the rail ties contain creosote, a wood preservative and pesticide considered to be toxic, they will require special handling and disposal. Installing a paved trail without damaging a fiber optic line alongside the tracks will also be a challenge, and culverts need to be repaired or replaced.

Constructing the trail will require an easement from Metro-North and permits from the state Departments of Environmental Conservation and Transportation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and four municipalities, including Beacon.

The line runs through private property, such as Montfort Brothers in Fishkill, where forklifts and front loaders cross the tracks between the masonry plant and storage area. But Hannett and Tom Baird, also with Barton & Loguidice, said the company is open to allowing the trail to cross the southern part of its property.

In words and music, Octet examines internet fallout

In Octet, running through Sept. 7 at Hudson Valley Shakespeare, eight internet addicts gather at a self-help meeting in a church basement to save themselves and warn the world about the rampaging monster that devours souls and infects human interaction.

For five years, artistic director Davis McCallum pursued Octet, a "chamber choir musical" that features complex eight-part a cappella harmonies often delivered while performers dance or run around the stage. The show debuted in 2019 with an extended off-Broadway run, but the rights holder kept a tight grip after the pandemic killed plans for a film and Broadway production, McCallum says.

Productions are now scheduled for Chicago and Toronto. In Philipstown, the HVS cast delivers solid performances that elicited strong applause on opening night (Aug. 16) as each actor took solo turns and melded back into the drum-tight ensemble. Several scenes animate the frantic scrolling and trolling and fretting and freaking out that transpires on corrosive online forums.

The title reflects the number of characters but also refers to the eight bits that form a byte, the smallest nugget of computer data.

Dave Malloy, who lives in Beacon, wrote the dialogue and thoroughly original score, which seesaws between lush harmonies and more angular passages. References include doo-wop, barbershop, shape notes, Gregorian chants and Tuvan throat singing.

Clever wordplay and rapid dialogue abound; Malloy conveys an awful lot of jargon surrounding the machines taking over the world and leaving grievous human fallout.

Prudes beware: many F-bombs are dropped, and Eddy the incel (Adam Bashian) laments in graphic detail the content of his foray into pornography at age 9. Toby (Luis Quintero) despairs that "an entire generation of children growing up has seen" a video with a horrifying act. "They will be the greatest monsters humanity ever created."

Calling internet consumers "homogenized sheep," blind to the numbing and dumbing, he asks: "Where have all the punk rock kids gone?"

A sad interchange between antisocial Eddy and Karly (Melissa Mahoney) about the insidious aspects of porn captures dating-site lunacy.

As Henry, Gunnar Manchester's dancing piled more hilarity onto an already funny number about gaming addicts. Testifying to Anand Nagraj's talent, his spot-on Marvin, the geek know-it-all, is a 180-degree pivot from his bombastic portrayal of Antipholus of Ephesus in A Comedy of Errors earlier this season.

Jill Paice (Jessica) presents pitch-perfect, deer-in-the-headlights expressions as the white woman canceled after her public flip-out went viral. Alexis Tidwell's Paula elicits empathy as her husband scorns her in bed and scrolls on, oblivious to the fact that a glass of water on the nightstand has gathered dust.

The hope is that the internet can redeem people like Velma, who hasn't "really talked to anyone in like two years." Mia Pak slays with the character's poignant material. On Aug. 18, after the show's only solo take as everyone else reposes in a drug-induced coma for five minutes, she cried and subtly dabbed her cheek with a tissue.

Velma revels in meeting someone online who is "just like me" but lives across the sea. Arguably, this is a human connection (bot? catfisher?), but she stops cutting herself with hashtag slashes and no longer sees herself as fat, gross, "stupid and lazy / sad and crazy."

Octet opens with an elegiac pining for a pristine forest, which represents the pre-internet days that have been bulldozed by the information superhighway. The remedy is to find a field (sans Wi-Fi or hot spot) and "lie there in the grass / let the morning hours pass." Maybe bring along a Walkman or boombox and blast some punk rock.

Hudson Valley Shakespeare is located at 2015 Route 9. For tickets, which cost $10 to $100 each, see hvshakespeare.org or call 845-265-9575.

Philipstown octogenarian is champion dancer

When Carolyn Fadden did the rumba and the cha-cha in the Albany Hilton ballroom earlier this month, her partner was less than half her age.

That didn't handicap the Philipstown octogenarian - she won gold and bronze medals in the Fred Astaire New York Capital Dancesport Championships.

Fadden is one of many older ballroom dancers in the Highlands who turn to the activity for fun and companionship, and to combat the challenges of aging.

"It is the best exercise for older people," says Fadden. "It's physical, but you have to use your brain. When people do sudokus and crosswords, they're usually sitting."

Fadden took up dancing 10 years ago with her husband, Chris. "Our kids were gone and we wanted something we could do together," she says. They tried golf and tennis but settled on dancing.

The Faddens dance nearly every week at the Fred Astaire studio on Route 9 in Philipstown, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Carolyn also takes multiple lessons a week, honing her skills for competitions in which amateurs are paired with professionals. She competes in the 75-and-older age group.

Her usual partner is Yuriy Herhel, the studio's 43-year-old owner. But Herhel had to care for his newborn. So, in Albany, Fadden joined Ernest Horodnychov, 32, another instructor from the studio. Herhel and Horodnychov each danced and taught in Ukraine before immigrating to the U.S. and settling in Fishkill.

Every time she wins, Fadden writes the date on the medal and puts it in a box. "I'm not that competitive, but I like to get the medals," she says.

Rita and Mark Warm, of Philipstown, took up dancing more than 20 years ago when Mark asked for dance lessons for his birthday. Mark, 74, said his parents loved to dance, but he was too self-conscious in his youth when Chubby Checker was urging everyone to do The Twist.

"Once we reach a certain age, we want to make sure we do everything that we want to do before we die," says Rita, 79.

The Warms paused their dancing when Mark, a retired physical education teacher, needed two hip replacements after a lifetime as a baseball catcher, including for a senior men's league. Now the couple dances regularly at the Fred Astaire studio in Philipstown, which is minutes from their home at Glassbury Court. They show off their moves on their trips to Margaritaville, near Cancun, where they get lots of compliments from younger people. "It makes them happy to see old people dancing," says Rita.

Many older people take up ballroom dancing for companionship after a spouse dies or becomes disabled, says JoAnn Brown, 84, of Garrison, whose husband has Parkinson's disease. "This is an opportunity to be in the arms of a professional dancer, and to close your eyes and think you're Cinderella, which is not a common experience for an old lady," she says. "It's so good for the soul and spirit."

Brown, a certified yoga instructor who offers chair yoga classes online, took dance lessons with her husband at the Fred Astaire studio in Wappingers Falls. "It was a wonderful experience," she said. But they stopped during what Brown suspects was the early stages of her husband's illness. Brown returned to dancing recently at the urging of her friend Carolyn Fadden.

Younger people also enjoy ballroom dancing, of course. Many take lessons to prepare for weddings. Amit Dhurandhar, 42, of Nelsonville, decided to take classes because the studio was close. He thought, "What's the worst that can happen?"

Now he competes and has won more than 25 medals, including several golds at a national competition held on a cruise earlier this year. He won four silvers this month in Albany, which was a regional competition.

He entered because his parents were visiting. "My mom wanted to see me dance," he says.