Valley Vines

Have a good read while riding the rails

Something new will be added to the daily grind on Tuesday, Sept. 4 ­ Jem and Scout. As part of the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read program, copies of “To Kill A Mockingbird” will be given gratis to commuters at Metro-North’s Poughkeepsie and New Hamburg stations between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m.

The book, a semiautobiographical account of author Harper Lee’s childhood in rural Alabama during the height of 1930’s racial segregation and unrest, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and several Academy Awards for the movie, which debuted the following year. Lee, now in her 80s, does not give interviews and is rarely seen in public, but hopefully she’d be happy to know her inspiring novel is being used to encourage our Internet-intense world to embrace the written word.

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Market watch

They not only work from sun to sun, but farmers take their show on the road as soon as frost warnings are lifted. Local towns and villages have been hosting farm stands from May through the last weekend of October. For the days and times of farmers’ markets nearest you, visit www.nyfarmersmarket.com and click on the “metro region” link. (Sorry, readers, the Hudson Valley is considered part of the metro area to the Empire State!)

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Get your binoculars ready!

Celebrating its fourth anniversary, the Hudson Ferry-Go-Round will continue touting the lure of the river on Sunday, Sept. 16. From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., ferry fans can board every hour from docks in Haverstraw (International Street Fair), Peekskill (Antique Car Show and One World Fest), Ossining (Arts Festival) and Tarrytown (Fall into Tarrytown). Free shuttle buses from the dock sites will “ferry” riders to special events that will be going on at each location. For more information, visit www.ferrygoround.com. All-day passes are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors. Children under 17 ride free when accompanied by a ticketed adult.

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Robo-sitter

With school starting this week, most parents are feeling mixed emotions (among them, elation!) as kids return to school ­ or are already college bound. But for those whose children are too young for school, this “robot” who amazed toddlers at the Dutchess County fair may be just the thing to keep kids busy. It might replace television as this generation’s electronic baby sitter.

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Dead gone

Did someone sit up and take notice when we ran this picture a few months back? Apparently, thieves have taken the hearse that was owned by The Castle on Route 17m in Chester. The dilapidated Caddy and its bony driver (a plastic skeleton was in the driver’s seat) were carted off mid-August. Now there’s a reward for their return ­ dead or alive.

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Five new business names piqued our interest this week:

Donna’s Dishes ­ Not something you can ask your kids to clean up after dinner!

Left Over Brains ­ Hopefully, not served on Donna’s Dishes.

The Giving Tree ­ Any relation to the famous “money tree” our parents always talked about?

Wicked Weddings, Etc ­ Followed by divine divorces? You have a 50-50 chance of finding out!

Let ‘Em Be Little ­ Kids or worries? That is the question!

 

 

 

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