Saturday June 11 was the date for the 31st annual Ossining Village Fair, one of my favorite of all Westchester events. Once again, although there were cloudy skies, the weather held out (only one rain out in 31 years.) I spent most of the day eating and snapping pictures. Forgive me for posting so many photos to the site. I tried to edit them down, but I didn’t want to leave anyone out. Spot anyone you know?

Please feel free to leave comments about the photos or the event.

The Ossining Village Fair is produced by the Ossining Chamber of Commerce.

On Saturday May 21st the owners of Groovy on Grand, a popular Croton-on-Hudson clothing store where you can find “Cool clothes for cool kids,” donated their time and 10% of their sales to raise funds for the Croton Caring Committee. Here’s the story.

The Yorktown Teen Center is in the midst of it’s first ever Arts Festival. Open to all Hudson Valley youth between the ages of 12-18, the festival is a month long event that will feature their work in the areas of Short Films, Music, Fine Arts, Photography and Poetry. There are sites throughout Yorktown to enjoy the Fest.

The following is the work of 16 year old filmmaker and Ossining resident Anthony Aviles.

Yorktown Teen Center

A community comes together to clean and restore a cemetery that was donated to the Town of Rye in 1860 by Elizabeth Halstead. She donated the cemetery specifically to be used for the purpose of a burial place for black war veterans. The dedicated cemetery is located within Greenwood Union Cemetery on North Street in Rye.

In this short video, shot by Westchester filmmaker Holly Sugrue, Tom Kissner tells us what this event means to him, while Dave Thomas urges the community to get involved in restoring the burial ground of local heroes.

Visit Holly Sugrue’s website

Follow Holly on Twitter

Holly is also the founder of the Westchester Film Industry Meetup Group. I recommend this group to any Westchester filmmakers looking for a place to network and share their knowledge.

For more than 30 years, the Ossining Village Fair has been one of Westchester’s largest and most successful yearly public events. Thousands of residents attend while over 150 vendors and community organizations present themselves and showcase their wares.

My family moved to Yonkers when I was eight years old. Prior to that we lived on the sixth floor of an apartment building in Jackson Heights, Queens. One of the few things I remember from those days was staring out my living room window to watch as lofts of pigeons were released from the various coops that seemed to exist on practically every rooftop in the neighborhood. The hobby of pigeon keeping, like many once popular pastimes, has dwindled over the years. I never would have thought that one of its champions could be found living in Scarsdale and that its biggest New York show is held in White Plains.

When I learned that the Westchester County Center was hosting The 2nd Annual Big Apple Invitational Classic, what was billed as an “all-variety pigeon extravaganza,” I knew that this was an event that would enjoy documenting. Upon further research, I found the link to the shows host, the New York Combine. It was here that I learned of the impressive pigeon breeding credentials of the shows chairman, and Scarsdale native, Sal Gigante.

The New York Combine is the premier club in the world for showing the American Domestic Show Flight, which I later found out was a particular breed of pigeon. There are also NY Flying Flights, S.F. Tumbler Breeds, Show Tipplers, Flying Baldheads, Bronze Tipplers, Danish Tipplers, Rollers, Pouters, Croppers, the list apparently goes on. Sal is President and Chairman of the Board of the New York Combine and a multiple Breeder of the Year award winner. When I contacted Sal and explained my desire to attend the show he could not have been more accommodating. He allowed me full access to shoot and interview wherever and whoever I wished. Here’s the result.

You know it’s summer when you see signs for the Ossining Village Fair. For more than 25 years, the Ossining Village Fair has been the largest and most successful yearly public event in the town of Ossining. Thousands of residents attend while over 100 vendors and community organizations present themselves and sell their wares to willing buyers.

This year the Village Fair had its best year yet. Unhindered by the cloudy skies and occasional sprinkles, 0ver 15,000 attendees and 130 Non-Profit and Artist/merchandise vendors participated in the fair. Fair attendees kept their feet moving to the sounds of music on 3-stages plus WFAS-FM broadcast live from the top of Main Street for 4-hours.

The Ossining Village Fair is produced by the Ossining Chamber of Commerce.
They would like to thank the sponsors who helped make the Fair possible:

Entergy • Optimum • Open Door • Police Athletic League • Village of Ossining

Mark your calendar for the 30th Annual Ossining Village Fair, which is Saturday, June 12, 2010