Category Archives: Festivals and Events

Arts & Entertainment, Festivals and Events, New York City travel

New York City’s Summer Outdoor Festival Season Gets Underway

May 29, 2019 krubin723

By Karen Rubin, David Leiberman, Laini Nemett, Eric Leiberman

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Summer is a magical time in New York City, with a burst of the finest cultural institutions opening their doors, coming outdoors and letting all the world in.

Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park

The company of the Free Shakespeare in the Park production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Kenny Leon, running at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park through June 23. (Photo credit: Joan Marcus)

The Public Theater (Artistic Director, Oskar Eustis; Executive Director, Patrick Willingham) has begun performances of the 2019 Free Shakespeare in the Park production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING at the Delacorte Theater, continuing a 57-year tradition of free theater in Central Park. Directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, the all-black staging of this beloved comedy will run through Sunday, June 23.

Then, for the first time since 1979, Free Shakespeare in the Park will present CORIOLANUS, the Bard’s blistering drama about a general voted into power by a populace hungry for change, and the unraveling that follows. Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan (Proof, Shakespeare In The Park’s Troilus and Cressida) directs a modern-day version of this riveting epic of democracy and demagoguery, July 16-August 11.

This year, there will be voucher or ticket distributions over the course of the summer in all five boroughs for almost every public performance of Free Shakespeare in the Park, continuing The Public’s mission of making great theater accessible to all. This summer’s distributions at libraries, recreation centers, and community partners throughout New York City, will have more locations and dates than ever to provide New Yorkers even more opportunities to obtain free tickets. To see a complete borough distribution schedule, visit publictheater.org/borough.

Kenny Leon directs a bold new take on Shakespeare’s cherished comedy of romantic retribution and miscommunication, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. In this modern production, we find the community of Messina celebrating a break from an ongoing war. But not all is peaceful amid the revelry, as old rivals engage in a battle of wits, unexpected foes plot revenge, and young lovers are caught in a tumultuous courtship – until love proves the ultimate trickster, and undoes them all.

The all-black cast of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING includes Jamar Brathwaite (Ensemble), Danielle Brooks (Beatrice), Grantham Coleman (Benedick), Chuck Cooper (Leonato), Javen K. Crosby (Ensemble), Denzel DeAngelo Fields (Ensemble), Jeremie Harris (Claudio), Tayler Harris (Ensemble), Erik Laray Harvey (Antonio/Verges), Kai Heath (Messenger), Daniel Croix Henderson (Balthasar), Tyrone Mitchell Henderson (Friar Francis/Sexton), Tiffany Denise Hobbs (Ursula), Lateefah Holder (Dogberry), LaWanda Hopkins (Dancer), Billy Eugene Jones (Don Pedro), Margaret Odette (Hero), Hubert Point-Du Jour (Don John), William Roberson (Ensemble), Jaime Lincoln Smith (Borachio), Jazmine Stewart (Ensemble), Khiry Walker (Conrade/Ensemble), Olivia Washington (Margaret), and Latra A. Wilson (Dancer).

To enable as many New Yorkers as possible the opportunity to experience Free Shakespeare in the Park there will be an open caption performance of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING on Friday, June 14; an ASL performance on Saturday, June 15; and an ADA audio described performance on Thursday, June 13.

Since 1962, over five million people have enjoyed more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at the Delacorte Theater. Conceived by founder Joseph Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Public’s Free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be the bedrock of the Company’s mission to increase access and engage the community.

This season, The Public proudly welcomes the return of Jerome L. Greene Foundation and Bank of America as season sponsors.

The Public continues the work of its visionary founder Joe Papp as a civic institution engaging, both on-stage and off, with some of the most important ideas and social issues of today. Conceived over 60 years ago as one of the nation’s first nonprofit theaters, The Public has long operated on the principles that theater is an essential cultural force and that art and culture belong to everyone. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, The Public’s wide breadth of programming includes an annual season of new work at its landmark home at Astor Place, Free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, The Mobile Unit touring throughout New York City’s five boroughs, Public Forum, Under the Radar, Public Studio, Public Works, Public Shakespeare Initiative, and Joe’s Pub. Since premiering HAIR in 1967, The Public continues to create the canon of American Theater and is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Their programs and productions can also be seen regionally across the country and around the world. The Public has received 59 Tony Awards, 170 Obie Awards, 53 Drama Desk Awards, 56 Lortel Awards, 34 Outer Critic Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards, and 6 Pulitzer Prizes.

Tickets to The Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare in the Park are distributed in a number of ways. On the day of each public performance, free tickets may be acquired in person at The Delacorte Theater, through a digital lottery via the TodayTix website or mobile app, in person at a borough distribution site, and via an in person lottery in the lobby of The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street. All tickets are subject to availability. A performance calendar and complete ticket distribution details can be found at PublicTheater.org. A limited number of tickets are also available via advance reservation by making a contribution in support of Free Shakespeare in the Park. To learn more, or to make a contribution, call 212.967.7555, or visit PublicTheater.org. The Delacorte Theater in Central Park is accessible by entering at 81st Street and Central Park West or at 79th Street and Fifth Avenue (publictheater.org).

Metropolitan Opera Summer Recital Series Features 6 Free Concerts

The Metropolitan Opera’s 2019 Summer Recital Series once again brings free outdoor recitals, featuring established artists and young talents of the opera world, to New Yorkers in all five boroughs. The series, now in its 11th year, features six free concerts embracing all five boroughs, and has become an operatic summer tradition.

Presented in collaboration with City Parks Foundation’s SummerStage Festival, the first two concerts, on Monday, June 10 at 8 p.m. at Central Park SummerStage (Manhattan) and Wednesday, June 12 at 7 p.m. at Brooklyn Bridge Park (Brooklyn), will feature soprano Ying Fang,who sang a featured role in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito this season,and tenor Ben Bliss and baritone Nathan Gunn,who sang together this season in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. They will be joined by Met pianist Dan Saunders.

*Enjoying outdoor concert in Central Park* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Four additional recitals feature soprano Leah Hawkins and tenor Mario Bahg, current members of the Met’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and baritone Joseph Lim, a winner of the Met’s National Council Auditions. They will be accompanied by Met pianist Dimitri Dover. Their concerts will take place on Thursday, June 13 at 7 p.m. in Jackie Robinson Park (Manhattan); Saturday, June 15 at 4 p.m. in Williamsbridge Oval (Bronx); Monday, June 17 at 7 p.m. in Socrates Sculpture Park (Queens); and Wednesday, June 19 at 7 p.m. in Clove Lakes Park (Staten Island).

The Met’s Summer Recital Series will feature arias and duets, as well as Broadway standards and other classical favorites.

The Met’s Summer Recital Series is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council, and in collaboration with the Department of Parks and Recreation. Major funding has also been provided by The Elizabeth B. McGraw Foundation, in honor of Mrs. McGraw.

No tickets are required for any of the performances. There are no rain dates for any of the park recitals. For more information visit metopera.org/season/summer-2019/recitals/

New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks

*New York Philharmonic performing in Prospect Park, Brooklyn* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks, Presented by Didi and Oscar Schafer, have become an iconic New York summer experience since they began in 1965, transforming parks throughout the city into a patchwork of picnickers and providing music lovers with an opportunity to hear the best classical music under the stars.

The concerts will take place Tuesday June 11 in Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx; Wednesday, June 12 in Central Park, Manhattan, Thursday, June 13 in Cunningham Park in Queens, Friday, June 14 in Prospect Park, Brooklyn and Sunday, June 16 in Staten Island.

All performances begin at 8 PM except the Free Indoor Concert in Staten Island, which begins at 4 PM.

The scheduled program includes Rossini, Overture to La Gazza Ladra; Works by Very Young Composers of New York City; and Copland’s Hoe-Down, from Rodeo.

*Fireworks at the New York Philharmonic performance in Central Park* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

There will be fireworks by Volt Live following the performances in the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn.

For weather and other updates, call the Concert Information Hotline at 212-875-5709 (https://nyphil.org/parks).

Museum Mile Festival, June 11

Now celebrating its 41st year, the annual Museum Mile Festival takes place rain or shine on Tuesday, June 11, from 6 to 9 pm. Walk the Mile on Fifth Avenue between 82nd Street and 110th Street while visiting some of New York City’s finest cultural institutions, which are open free to the public throughout the evening. Special exhibitions and works from permanent collections are on view inside the museums’ galleries, with live music and art-making workshops on Fifth Avenue at selected museums.

*Dancing in the street, outside the Museum of the City of New York, during the Museum Mile Festival* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The 23-block stretch of Fifth Avenue is home to seven participating institutions—El Museo del Barrio, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the Jewish Museum, Neue Galerie and the Museum of the City of New York. In addition to all the art to see inside, there are plenty of outdoor festivities: face painting, chalk drawing, live music and other block-party-type events. (http://museummilefestival.org/)

Jazz Age Lawn Party, Governors Island

Nostalgia doesn’t begin to describe the feeling that permeates Governors Island for the two weekends (June 15 & 16, August 24 & 25) each summer that thousands of people, many decked out in 1920s regalia, elaborate picnic baskets in hand, disembark from ferries from lower Manhattan and Brooklyn.

*Everybody dance! At the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island, a celebration of prohibition-era Jazz Hot* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This, the 14^th year of the festival, is especially poignant because it is also the 100^th anniversary of Prohibition and all that the counter-culture (women’s rights!) Jazz Age triggered.

It is also one of New York City’s most glamorous and entertaining events of the summer.

*Michael Arenella and the Dreamland Orchestra, with a 1920s-era dance performance by The Dreamland Follies, at the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Jazz Age Lawn Party started in 2005 as a small gathering on NYC’s Governors Island, and has since grown into one of New York City’s most beloved events. This historically sold out event attracts thousands of time travelers each year, who come together to discover the music and zeitgeist of the 1920s. Consistently selected by the New York Times as one of the year’s most memorable events, Jazz Age Lawn Party offers a unique, interactive opportunity to relive one of the most colorful and formative epochs in American history.

Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governors Island, NYC with Michael Arenella and his Dreamland Orchestra © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The event is held rain or shine; food is available for sale but people love to bring their own picnics (outside alcohol is prohibited, but there is alcohol, including Prohibition-era inspired cocktails, for sale).

Though enjoying Governor’s Island is free (and there are fascinating historic sites as well as art and cultural and recreational activities on the island, and you can hear the music, admission to the festivities is by ticket (which cost up to $175). Purchase tickets in advance https://www.eventbrite.com/o/jazz-age-lawn-party-18523813336 (no charge for children 12 and under).

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© 2019 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin, and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Festivals and Events, Long Island travel

16th Annual Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach, Long Island, Honors Spirit of Memorial Day

May 27, 2019 krubin723 3 Comments

US Air Force Thunderbirds display their precision flying at Bethpage Air Show, Jones Beach, Long Island, for Memorial Day weekend © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

The US Air Force Thunderbirds headlined the 16^th Annual Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach State Park, Long Island, flying the thrilling red, white and blue F-16s. The event over Memorial Day Weekend draws almost 400,000 in the course of three days.

Most thrilling at this year’s Memorial Day weekend Bethpage Air Show at Jones Beach, Long Island, were the number of women doing the most daring feats: US Air Force Thunderbirds pilot Michelle Curran, commanding the “Opposing Solo”; Jessy Panzer, the only civilian woman aerobatic pilot in the country, mimicking the astonishing stunts of Sean D. Tucker, a “living legend” of aerobatics; Golden Knights parachutist Maj. Marissa Chierichella and the Red Bull Air Force sky diving team had Amy Chmelecki.

Michelle Curran, flying the #6 Opposing Solo for the US Air Force Thunderbirds, has some of the most thrilling moments in the Bethpage Air Show, where the two F-16s come at each other at a combined speed of 1000 mph © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This was the 16^th annual Jones Beach air show – I’ve seen almost all of them – and though many of the performances repeat year after year, or follow a two-year cycle, this show was particularly exciting with the infusion of new energy.

The headliners, the US Air Force Thunderbirds, are a team of six F-16 Fighting Falcons that roar through the skies, to demonstrate the power and dexterity of these fighting crafts. Most thrilling is when the two opposing solos race at each other at combined speed of 1000 mph.

US Air Force Thunderbirds (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

We were treated to the final appearance of Sean D. Tucker’s specially-engineered plane that enables him to do feats never before imagined, the Oracle Challenger 3, will be donated to the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum in Washington, where it will be part of a new Thomas W. Haas We All Fly gallery, opening in 2021.

Sean D. Tucker flying his Oracle Challenger 3 at the Bethpage Air Show, Jones Beach © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This year, for the first time, Tucker flew in tandem with Jessy Panzer, the only female civilian air show pilot in the USA. Together, Team Oracle performed the most exquisite, thrilling pas de deux in flight, with incredible precision at 200 miles mph, at bone-crushing G-forces, with Panzer magnificently following the smoke trails of Tucker. Her skill is all the more apparent since she is flying a different plane from the Oracle Challenger 3 biplane. And the back-story – that each were afraid of flying initially, he because his father was an aviation lawyer who knew all too well the risks, and she because her father died in an airplane crash.

Sean D. Tucker and Jessy Panzer, Team Oracle at the Bethpage Air Show, Jones Beach © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Team Oracle (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

GEICO Skytypers, a team of advanced training aircraft used in World War II, are fascinating because they demonstrate actual fighting techniques – an implosion run where they evade the enemy by actually flying into each other to create confusion, missing each other by mere feet; opposing craft which come at each other at incredible speed.

GEICO Skytypers re-create aerial battle strategies in their WWII-era training planes © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

GEICO Skytypers (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

GEICO Skytypers at Bethpage Air Show, Jones Beach (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The airshow traditionally kicks off with a ceremonial parachute drop by a representative of the US Army Parachute Team, the Golden Knights, delivering the American flag to a tiny target on Jones Beach. The whole team then returns for a demonstration performance. They barrel out of their plane from an altitude of 12,500 ft, at a speed of 120 mph before pulling the cord to release their parachute; in one demonstration we see what happens when a chute fails at just 5,000 ft. (they have a spare chute). We learn that the parachutes they use, use the same aeronautical techniques as the original Wright Brothers plane in 1903.

US Army Golden Knights parachute team at Bethpage Air Show, Jones Beach, Long Island (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

US Army Golden Knights parachute team (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

US Army Golden Knights hurtle through space from more than 2 miles up before they open their parachutes © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

US Army Golden Knights (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Red Bull Air Force launch out of a plane from 13,000 feet, speeding like a cannon ball at almost 200 mph, crossing in flight, before releasing the parachute, and sailing down at 60 mph to the target. The helicopter is the only aerobatic helicopter in the US.

Red Bull Air Force sky diving team (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The F-18 Super Hornet, traveling at 700 mph, nearly breaking the sound barrier, where the pilot experiences bone-crushing Gs. The fighter is flown by the United States Navy and Marines

F 18 Super Hornet flies at the Bethpage Air Show just below speed that would break the sound barrier© *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

F-18 Super Hornet (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Matt Chapman, flying for Embry Riddle, performs maneuvers in which he experiences as much as 9 positive Gs and 6 negative Gs.

Matt Chapman (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Matt Chapman thrills audience at the Bethpage Air Show on Jones Beach, Long Island © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

John Klatt Airshows and Jack Link’s Beef Jerky teamed up to create a one-of-a-kind plane, the Screamin’ Sasquatch, powered by dual powerplants: a Pratt & Whitney 985 Radial Engine and a General Electric CJ610 (J85) Jet Engine with 3,000 lbs of thrust. This system allows the plane to achieve feats other stunt planes are unable to do. During his performance, Ret. USAF Lt Colonel John Klatt experiences forces of plus and minus 4Gs, which means a 200 lb. man would weigh 800 lbs. He travels at 250 mph. Considering the ridiculous aerobatics Klatt performs in the plane, it is astonishing to learn that the plane is a Taperwing Waco made famous by the barnstormers of the 1920s and 1930s, and is based on a 1929 Waco, modified and “beefed up” big time.

Screamin’ Sasquatch© *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

David Windmiller, Long Island’s hometown hero (from Melville), thrills spectators in his Zivko Edge 540 aircraft, built especially for aerobatics, with seemingly impossible feats at speeds of up to 220 mph that keep his peers and his fans in awe. Windmiller has been flying since 14 year old, soloed at 16 year old and started aerobatic flying before he got his license and has accumulated 18,000 flight hours, including 8,000 doing aerobatics. He performs snap rolls, inverted flat spin (where the plane falls from the sky), 4 knife edge tumblers, inside-outside octogan loop.

Long Island native David Windmiller, professional stunt pilot who has a school to teach aerobatics, performs at Bethpage Air Show on Jones Beach © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

David Windmiller (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

US Coast Guard demonstrated a rescue by helicopter into churning seas – on a typical day, the Coast Guard, with fewer members than can fit in Yankee Stadium, save 15 lives, patrol some 96,000 miles of coastline through the US, as well as South China Seas, Pacific, Persian Gulf and wherever the US has forces.The air show also pays homage to aviation’s heritage.

US Coast Guard (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The Bayport Aerodrome Society, formed in 1972 ands composed of aviation professionals, recreational pilots, and people interested in preserving aviation history, flies aircraft from the 1920s. As a “living museum” they have a variety of antique aircraft flying on the field including Bi-Planes, Champs, and Cubs. One of their pilots, is 92-year old pilot who served in World War II, who flew with his grandson.

Historic aircraft from flown by the Bayport Aerodrome Society © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The vintage B-25 Mitchell Bomber used in the “Catch 22” series on Hulu © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com* (c) Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

World War II vintage aircraft from the American Air Power Museum mark Memorial Day at the Bethpage Air Show, Jones Beach, Long Island © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

World War II vintage aircraft from the American Air Power Museum, at Republic Airport (flights available over Memorial Day weekend) were flown, including the B-25 Mitchell Bomber used in the “Catch 22” series on Hulu.

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Arts & Entertainment, Attractions, Festivals and Events

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Famous ‘Goddess of Good Sex,’ Talks Frankly About Surviving Holocaust at Gold Coast Arts Center Screening of ‘Ask Dr. Ruth’

May 10, 2019 krubin723

Dr. Ruth Westheimer answers questions from the audience at a screening of the documentary about her life, “Ask Dr. Ruth,” at the Gold Coast Arts Center, Great Neck, Long Island © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

by Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the famous sex therapist, claims to have a rule against commenting on politics “someone who talks about sex as much as I do can’t tackle politics.” And yet, positions on sexual freedom, AIDs, abortion rights and reproductive freedom, and more recently, drawing upon painful memories as a Holocaust survivor, on the rise of anti-Semitism and how migrant children are being snatched from their families at the southern border.

She claims not to be a feminist, but when her granddaughter prods her on her views on abortion, on equal pay, on whether men and women should be equal in their relationship, and insists she is the text-book definition of a feminist, Dr. Ruth relents and says she is a feminist supporter, not a radical (she doesn’t hold with burning bras).

She also stood stalwartly for same-sex relationships and was an early advocate for research into prevention and cure of AIDs. She has consistently championed a philosophy of respect for individuals, that there is no such thing as “normal,” but that two consenting adults should do what brings both joy and satisfaction.

She claims to have a rule against commenting on politics “someone who talks about sex as much as I do can’t tackle politics.” And yet, positions on sexual freedom, AIDs, abortion and now, anti-Semitism, invariably bring her into that realm.

She has come to the Gold Coast Arts Center in Great Neck, Long Island, on May 8, for the screening of a documentary about her life, “Ask Dr. Ruth.” The connection to these issues is Michael Glickman, a former president of the Arts Center and President & CEO, the Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York’s Holocaust Museum), where Dr. Ruth is also a trustee, and presently has an important exhibit, “Auschwitz: Not long ago. Not far away” which opened May 8.

*Michael Glickman, president and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage, chats with Dr. Ruth Westheimer at the Great Neck screening of the documentary “Ask Dr. Ruth.”* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The documentary of her life focuses considerable attention on the Holocaust and how it shaped her life – beginning as a 10 year old, packed up on a train with other Orthodox Jewish children to Switzerland, forced to leave her mother and grandmother at a train station in Frankfurt (her father had already been taken by Nazis to a labor camp). She never saw her family again, but describes how she felt in those years living at an orphanage.

Her son and daughter say how she never really discussed her experience in the Holocaust nor fully mourned the loss of her family, but we see – through old photos and animation and diary entries – what she experienced. And it was only relatively recently that she brought herself to Yad VaShem in Israel to search the database to find out what happened to her parents. In the movie, she realizes that something is wrong when letters stop coming from her parents, and after years go by, she accepts that she is an orphan. She learns that her father was murdered in 1942 in Auschwitz, and her mother was simply “disappeared.”

But what we see throughout is an unbelievably positive, optimistic personality who was able to get the other children on that train to sing away their fear.

Dr. Ruth, as she delights in being known (the first tv/radio host to be known just by the first name), is turning 91 years old now, and on her 90^th birthday, she reflected how 80 years before, she was on that train bravely waving goodbye to her family (her parents gave her life twice – the second time when they sent her away); 70 years before, she nearly lost her legs when a bomb went off in Israel, where she was a sniper in the Haganah.

While in the orphanage in Switzerland, the girls were being trained to become housemaids and weren’t allowed to attend high school, but her father always prized education. Her first boyfriend would sneak into her room at night with his textbooks, and hide under her bed while she read that day’s lessons.

After the war, she emigrated to Israel (Palestine) with some friends, changing her name from Karola, which sounded too German, to her middle name, Ruth (and hoping that her family, if they were still alive, could find her).

She’s been married three times – the first time to a very good-looking Israeli soldier; who took her to Paris with him when he attended medical school, affording the opportunity for her to study psychology at the Sorbonne; they divorced when he decided not to become a doctor and to return to Israel and she stayed to finish her studies.

In 1956, with $1,500 in restitution from the West German government, she and her boyfriend sailed to New York, traveling fourth class on the Liberty but sneaking up to first class in order to be able to view the Statue of Liberty as the ship came into New York harbor. They married after she got pregnant, but the marriage didn’t last.

She was a single parent and a working mother when that was still a rarity and an oddity. “We were very poor. There were no other single mothers…“I was on the forefront.” (One of my favorite parts of the movie was the clip of her talking with Gloria Steinem.)

She worked for Planned Parenthood in Harlem, where she found herself participating in frank discussions about sex. By 1967, she was project director. She worked towards her doctorate in family and sex counseling at Columbia University, working with Helen Singer Kaplan, a pioneer in the field of sex therapy.

On a ski trip in the Catskills, she met the love of her life, Fred Westheimer who was the head of the Jewish Ski Club, 35 years old, an engineer and never married. From the first time she saw him, she was determined they would marry. They were married for more than 40 years before he died, in 1997, after a heart attack.

Dr. Ruth displays the sense of humor and optimistic outlook that no doubt helped her get through the tragedies in her life © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Dr. Ruth, a 4 foot 7 inch tall woman famous for saying “Size doesn’t matter,” got her doctorate at the age of 42 and set up practice as a sex therapist.

A lecture she delivered in 1980 came to the attention of Betty Elam, community affairs manager of the New York radio station WYNY-FM, who offered Ruth $25 a week to make Sexually Speaking, a 15-minute show every Sunday that would air shortly after midnight. The show became a hit, expanding to two-hours, and by 1984 was nationally syndicated.

Her influence as the “Goddess of Good Sex,” as one called her, expanded with a syndicated newspaper column, television shows, appearances in movies and even commercials and a website.

She continues to live in the same Washington Heights apartment she has lived in for more than 54 years, saying that she feels comfortable among other immigrants.

The movie is expertly done – telling the story of a life that is even more dramatic and worthy of a movie than most people, who knew of Dr. Ruth only as someone breaking down barriers of frank talk about sex, realized. Who knew she was a sniper with the Haganah in the early days of Israel, who was caught in a bomb blast and almost lost her legs? Who knew she was married three times (the first two were legalized love affairs, she jokes, the third was the real thing). And who knew of the tragedy she suffered as a Holocaust survivor.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer at a screening of the documentary about her life, “Ask Dr. Ruth,” at the Gold Coast Arts Center, Great Neck, Long Island © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

She expresses her absolute surprise (and delight) in becoming a radio, then TV host (“I’m not tall, blonde, gorgeous”), but notes that being an older, mature woman (grandmotherly), she was able to get away with talking explicitly about sex, using such words as vagina, clitoris, masturbation. The fact that the Sexual Revolution (the Pill is 50 years old) was underway, with women beginning to demand their rights and identity, also was a factor. Still, as the film notes, there were censors standing by, protests, even a man who came up on stage where she was speaking to make a citizen’s arrest.

In the film, she revisits people from her childhood – her first boyfriend when she was 13 from the orphanage in Switzerland where she was sent by her mother to escape the Nazis (“My parents gave me life twice, the first time giving birth, the second time sending me away so I could live”); her childhood friend who lives in Israel; her earliest radio producers.

It shows her dogged determination to get an education – something her father, who owned a notions shop, valued so highly. She earned her Masters, then her PhD.

Media regulations at the time required radio stations to do community-oriented broadcasting and a producer appreciated how different Dr. Ruth would be, so put her show, pre-taped on a Thursday, on Sunday at midnight. Her show became more popular than most of the morning drive shows and they put her on live. She notes that she never previewed what questions the callers would be asking, so she could respond spontaneously (on the other hand, on TV, the people posing the questions were actors, though she still did not know what issues they would raise).

When asked her greatest experience, she replies “My 4 grandchildren… You know, Hitler is dead and I and my grandchildren are alive.”

Asked about her reaction to the movie, she said she had trepidation about the device of using animation to show her early life, but the two Israelis who did the animation “did it brilliantly.”

She reflected on the scene they re-created at the railroad station in 1938, when she was 10 and being sent away by her mother and grandmother. “You know, there were all the other mothers and grandmothers – the fathers had been taken – but they did something brilliant [in suggesting there were only a few on the platform]: you could feel the loneliness of a mother and grandmother saying goodbye, not knowing what would happen, but sending their only child to safety. When I saw this – and I didn’t see it before it was done – I was very happy with the film.”

She jokes, “I promise good sex for anybody who gives this film an [Oscar] nomination.”

She acknowledges that she had not spoken much in the past about being a Holocaust survivor, but that the new exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, “Auschwitz: Not Long Ago, Not Far Away,” has brought that aspect of her life out. “My work has been about how to educate, to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

“You have to go twice to the exhibit,” she says. “The first time you will be very upset. Go again to learn something about the history of Nazis coming to power.

“In the front [of the museum] is a cattle car –it is upsetting because I know parents, other grandparents- all of them went on a car like that – very upsetting – that makes me feel like I felt January 5 1939. On the other hand, you have to stand up to be counted, especially these days.

“As you have heard, I don’t do politics, but these days, I have to talk about anti-Semitism, to stand up and say all of us have to fight so this will not happen again.”

Also, “as you have seen in the film clearly, to stand up that abortion must remain legal and family planning needs funding.”

Though she does not “do politics,” she won an Oxford debate defending abortion and family planning. “I’m going again –I probably will be the oldest at age 91.” This time she will be debating pornography.

Dr. Ruth Westheimer at a screening of the documentary about her life, “Ask Dr. Ruth,” at the Gold Coast Arts Center, Great Neck, Long Island with Joseph Gil, GCAC VP Fundraising, Regina Gil, Founder & Executive Director, Michael Glickman, past president and President and CEO of the Museum of Jewish Heritage © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Asked about her opinion of dating apps like Tinder, Dr. Ruth says, “I did not plant that question – but this summer, I have a book coming which warns about apps. It’s not that you shouldn’t use, but you have to use your brains not to meet in a secluded place – to meet in hotel lobby, movie, some place safe.

“Another thing that worries me – in my new book, is that the art of conversation is being lost. Everyone is looking at their phone as if world will crumble if not constantly looking. It’s difficult to have conversation. But the best sexual relationship is also when you have a good relationship.”

In another book that Dr. Ruth is coming out with this year, “Crocodile You’re Beautiful,” she says, “I am telling a little ant to be happy to be an ant – because if you cooperate, you can build bridges.”

Asked if she has been back to Frankfurt, where she was born, she says she goes each year to the Frankfurt book fair, and “every year I am back with a new contract. I also taught a seminar at Heidelberg. I have no problems with people my age or younger – it’s older people I didn’t want to know – like Fiddler. On the other hand, the Adenauer from Germany was instrumental in getting money to Israel when it was just being born. And even today, I go to Israel every year and even today there are young Germans who go for the summer or year to volunteer in old age homes. I appreciate that.”

But, she adds, saying, “Thank you for question – I never came near to that railroad station –it’s too painful – so whenever I had to go some place, I went around not to go to railroad station where I saw my mother and grandmother for the last time.”

She says that for her Masters degree, she did a longitudinal study of 50 children “who came with me to orphanage in Switzerland. I found them all, I went to archives in Switzerland and was in touch with many. They all made it – none of them committed suicide, none became drug addicts or alcoholics. The reason is the early socialization –their early years of childhood. I was 10 ½ – the youngest was 6 – so the early socialization, all had in loving home with parents. That helped them all to overcome becoming orphans. They should do more studies about early socialization, how important early childhood years are.”

She adds, “I do say I am not involved in politics, except these days I have changed my mind – I am very upset when I see children being separated.”

She closes by urging people to visit the “Auschwitz” exhibit at the Museum for Jewish Heritage. “it’s the most remarkable Holocaust exhibition in this country.”

The groundbreaking exhibition, on view through January 3, 2020, brings together more than 700 original objects and 400 photographs from over 20 institutions and museums around the world. “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away” is the most comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the history of Auschwitz – a complex of 48 concentration and extermination camps where 1 million Jews and tens of thousands of others were murdered – and its role in the Holocaust ever presented in North America, and an unparalleled opportunity to confront the singular face of human evil—one that arose not long ago and not far away. (Edmond J. Safra Plaza, 36 Battery Place, New York, NY 10280 https://mjhnyc.org/discover-the-exhibition/about-the-exhibition/)

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Cultural travel, Festivals and Events, Heritage Travel, New York City travel

Parade through Chinatown, NYC Welcomes in Year of Pig, Showcases Chinese Heritage

February 18, 2019 krubin723

*20^th Annual Lunar New Year Parade, Chinatown, New York City © 2019 Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Dragons and dancers paraded through New York City’s Chinatown on Sunday, February 17 to usher in the Year of the Pig in the city with the largest population of Chinese descent outside Asia.

*US Senator Charles Schumer at 20^th Annual Lunar New Year Parade, Chinatown, New York City © 2019 Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The parade is a colorful pan-Asian procession that incorporates the great variety of Chinese traditions – with a smattering of Brazilian drummers, Hispanic dancers, and Irish bagpipers. Tens of thousands lined the parade route as it wound from Hester Street, Mott, Broadway, and Forsyth to Sara D. Roosevelt Park, with US Senator Charles Schumer and NYC Mayor Bill DiBlasio among other elected officials, along with leaders from the Chinese community, leading the way.

In his remarks to the gathering before the parade got underway, Senator Schumer applauded the contributions of “immigrants from all over who made America great.”

*NYC Mayor Bill DiBlasio and other officials at 20^th Annual Lunar New Year Parade, Chinatown, New York City © 2019 Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

With a population estimated between 70,000 and 150,000, Chinatown has been a favored home for Chinese immigrants. Indeed, Lower Manhattan has long been a haven for immigrant communities, from Jews in neighboring Lower East Side (the Tenement Museum), and Italians in Little Italy, and today, Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Burmese, Vietnamese, and Filipinos among others add to the multicultural mosaic.

*NYC Mayor Bill DiBlasio at 20^th Annual Lunar New Year Parade, Chinatown, New York City © 2019 Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Lunar New Year is cherished as a time to embrace family and heritage.

“Lunar New Year is the liveliest and most important celebration in Chinese culture and Chinatown is the place to experience it!”

Celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year Parade, Chinatown, NYC 2019

And the parade is an expression of celebration for Chinese heritage in America – as evidenced by the sheer variety of costumes and traditions on display.

Here are highlights:

The Museum of China in the Americas (MOCA) offers a walking tour that takes visitors through Chinatown to learn about holiday traditions and customs observed by Chinese households. Witness how the neighborhood transforms itself in preparation for the New Year and discover the characteristics that make this holiday unique.”

Tours are conducted in English and are led by MoCA docents with personal or family roots in the neighborhood. In case of inclement weather, tours will be held in the galleries. Advance reservations are required. For information and reservations call 212-619-4785 or purchase tickets online, www.mocanyc.org. (Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre Street New York, NY 10013, 855-955-MOCA).

For more information, visit www.chinatown-online.com.

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Attractions, Christmas holiday travel, Festivals and Events, Historic Places, Holiday Travel, Long Island travel

Candlelight Evening in Old Bethpage Village Restoration Warms the Heart, Soothes the Soul

December 28, 2018 krubin723

*Carolers sing holiday favorites at the bonfire in the middle of Old Bethpage Village* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Music abounds throughout Old Bethpage Village Restoration, the evening warmed by the orange-red glow of candlelight, fireplace embers, a bonfire. The annual Candlelight Evenings at Old Bethpage Restoration, a living history museum on Long Island, is one of my favorite holiday events.

The most wonderful thing about the candlelight evenings at Old Bethpage Village Restoration on Long Island, is yes, the sense of stepping back into time, into an idyllic peacefulness that makes you feel as if you have just fallen into a Christmas card. But what I love best are the serendipitous moments when you engage the reenactors in conversation- the questions that arise just because you are immersed in that experience.

Each year, I add to the stories, my understanding of history and our community’s heritage.

Just leaving the visitors center is an experience. Just before you exit the center, inside, a group of Santas in modern dress are singing but as you walk down the ramp into the darkness, leaving pavement and electric lights behind, carolers are singing in a shadow. I meet up with them again in the village.

The village is actually a created place, assembled from historic homes from across Nassau County (it was Queens County when they were built), except for the Powell Farm, which is the only original homestead here and dates from 1855. Many of the homes were built by people whose names are well known to Long Islanders: Hewlett, Searing, Schenck, Cooper (built in 1815 for the famous inventor, Peter Cooper, in Hempstead). Most were built in the 1800s, but the Schenck House, the oldest, was built around 1765 for a Dutch landowner, Minne Schenck, who had 300 acres in Manhasset (manpower was provided by African slaves and servants).

Walking along the pebbled path, lighted only with flames, I come upon a brass band outside the Conklin House, built in 1853 by Joseph H. Conklin, a bayman, in the Village of the Branch.

*Santa is making lists and checking twice, here in his workshop at the Layton House and General Store during Candlelight Evening at Old Bethpage Village Restoration* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The centerpiece of the Village is the Layton General Store and House, built by John M. Layton, a storekeeper, around 1866 in East Norwich. Though the house seems very fine – with large rooms and tall ceilings, I am told that he was middle class. Here, in the parlor, I meet Santa Claus who seems to be making out his list and checking it twice. In the next room is the Layton General Store – the Walmart of its day – where you can purchase candy and dolls that are made by one of the interpreters.

*Max Rowland plays banjo at the Noon Inn* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The next important house is the Noon Inn is appropriately just across from the general store, where when you climb the stairs, you find Max L. Rowland regaling an audience with his banjo, reconstructed to its period of the early 19^th century (no frets, gut strings, deeper tone), and a concertina. If you ask, he will tell you about the instruments: in the mid-1800s, the concertina was the most popular instrument around – because it was relatively inexpensive (costing less than a violin), and compact, easy to carry and capable of such rich sound and complexity. It was extremely popular with sailors, who could tuck it away in their gear. Rowland can testify to it: this particular concertina has crossed the sea three times with Rowland, who lives on a boat.

*Carolers at the Noon Inn* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Downstairs at the Noon Inn, which dates from 1850 and was owned John H. Noon, innkeeper, in East Meadow, you can get hot mulled cider and cookies, while outside, there are carolers singing beneath a lamplight. I catch up with them again later singing at the bonfire. It is magical.

At Queens District No. 6 School House, which dates from c. 1845 in Manhasset, there is traditional fiddle music, played on a period instrument, a 150-year old violin that had been made in Prague, that has no chin rest or frets. We learn about the Manhasset School house – children attended the one-room school house six days a week – attendance wasn’t compulsory and kids came sporadically. Music would have been widespread but there were no real professional musicians in Long Island. The school house would have been the venue for music, entertainment (like the Magic Lantern shows, the movies of their day), and various gatherings in the evening. He tells me that all of Nassau County used to be part of Queens County, until the residents wanted to separate from New York City. One of the songs he plays is the Fireman’s Quick Step, written in 1822 by Francis Frank Johnson, an African American composer, for the Philadelphia Fireman’s Cotillion fundraiser.

At Queens District No. 6 School House, which dates from c. 1845 in Manhasset, there is traditional music played on a 150-year old violin, such as the Fireman’s Quickstep, written in 1822 by Francis Frank Johnson, an African American composer, for the Philadelphia Fireman’s Cotillion fundraiser © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Music was so important to the people of the mid-19^th century, the period which Old Bethpage reconstructs. When you think about it, people could only appreciate music live, in the moment.

At the Hewlett House, a grand home high on the hill, built by the founder for which the town of Hewlett is named, a fellow plays a series of flutes and a violin, while popcorn is popping in the kitchen fireplace in the next room (samples provided).

*Traditional music and popcorn at the Hewlett House* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

At the beautiful Manetto Hill Church, 1857, a Methodist church that originally was located in Plainview, there is singing and storytelling – the origin of holly (representing male), ivy (representing female), so the two entwined are a symbol of marriage; mistletoe (which, rather than a romantic prompt for kissing, was used to make peace between quarreling individuals) and poinsettias. We sing carols and learn that “Jingle Bells” was written by a Sunday School teacher for a Thanksgiving pageant(New Englanders didn’t celebrate Christmas), and Silent Night was a poem written in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria by Father Joseph Mohr in 1818 (his organist Franz Xaver Gruber wrote the music), desperate for Christmas music when the church organ broke.

*Singing holiday songs, learning about holiday traditions at the Manetto Hill Church* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

At the Luyster Store, which dates from c. 1840 and was built by John B. Luyster, a storekeeper in East Norwich, you see the rare craft of broom making (and can purchase the brooms that are made here). Tim works on a machine from 1840 which was in the museum’s collection, and you can see how much physical effort goes into it. He says he and his brother, Chris, are two of only three broommakers left on Long Island (the third is their mentor). He explains that a home would have had 2 brooms per room, or 18-20 per household, so not to transfer dirt from one room to the next. Brooms were actually expensive: an ordinary broom might have cost 24 cents – but that was equivalent to half-day’s wages in the 1840s, when the Great Recession was worse than even the Great Depression and the average man took home 48 cents a day; that means a broom would cost about $50 today (so his price of $20 for a fancy broom decorated for the holidays with fancy ribbons, holly and weaving, is a bargain).

*Tim, the Broommaker at Luyster Store, one of only three broommakers left on Long Island, who demonstrate the craft* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

This was an enterprise that farmers would do in winter to make extra money, and they would allocate an acre of land to cultivate the special wheat sorghum (called “corn” but not corn) for that purpose. A father would teach his child the craft. An interesting artifact in the store is the massive safe. The building itself was once a hardware store that was the only one within 10 miles of Theodore Roosevelt’s Sagamore Hill, so it may well be that Roosevelt would have stopped by. There is also an interesting Harrison for Reform banner, referring to William Henry Harrison, the shortest-lived president (he died of pneumonia after one month in office).

*Traditional holiday music at Benjamin House* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Benjamin House, dating from 1829, was built for William Benjamin, a minister and farmer in Northville, where there a husband and wife play holiday melodies that would have been popular at the time on a gigantic bass fiddle (it seems to fill the room) and a violin, like “Deck the Halls,” which was a Welsh melody dating back to the 1600s. We discuss Christmas traditions of the time (gift-giving wasn’t yet a tradition, but Queen Victoria had popularized table-top Christmas trees as a loving gesture to Prince Albert).

I stop into the Conklin House, a house that dates from 1853 and was built by Joseph H. Conklin, a bayman in the village of Branch. Last year, there was a demonstration of spinning being done in front of the fireplace, but this year, two ladies relax over a cup of tea after demonstrating how they bake ginger snaps.

*Ladies relax over a cup of tea after a busy evening baking* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The tiny Searing House (this is the first time that I can remember it being open for Candlelight Evening), was Dr. James Searing’s office, a Hempstead physician, built in 1815 – where the doctor would have prepared his medicines before going out by buggy to visit patients – and here, we are treated to freshly roasted chestnuts.

I usually save the Schenck House for last because each year, because it is here that I come upon the most unexpected encounters and find it the most illuminating. Instead of interpreting the holiday traditions of the mid 1800s, the Huntington Militia re-create a Colonial Christmas in the 18^th century. The Schenck House dates from 1765, owned by a Dutch farmer. Here, our presenters speak in the style of the time, and celebrate Christmas of 1775, just two months after Martin Schenck, who inherited the house from his father, had been one of the leaders of the committee of Patriots that decided to break from Loyalist Hempstead, and form North Hempstead. I learn that the south shore of Long Island was a occupied by the British from 1776-1783, the entire duration of the Revolutionary War, while the north shore was a stronghold for Patriots, many of them the Dutch families who had no great affinity for the British monarch. The Schencks came to the New World when New Amsterdam was a Dutch colony; the British took it over in 1754.

*Schenck House, oldest in Old Bethpage Village, dating from 1765, where the Huntington Militia enacts a Christmas gathering in 1775* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

I am swept into its history. I am transfixed talking with “Ambrose Everyman,” a fellow from 1775, an American of English descent really troubled by North Hempstead’s succession from the Town of Hempstead over the issue of rebellion against the King and Crown. His loyalties are clear. He raises the question over how the colonists are made so dissatisfied with the King – and questions the veracity of the crimes and accusations designed to foment rebellion. He notes that since the first Continental Congress, the Massachusetts faction of the Patriots have banned women from going to the tavern, banned theatrical entertainment – in effect, installed the Puritan societal structure on the colonies. And because of the “attack against one of the colonies is an attack against us all,” he questions whether the attacks in Lexington and Concord, portrayed as a British massacre, really happened that way. “How do we really know?” he tells me (the original “fake news”?). Mr. Everyman was upset with the upstarts in Massachusetts who caused so much trouble, who dared to pretend to be Indians and toss tea into the sea. He called them cowards for hiding behind their disguise. He said he knew war – had fought in the French and Indian War – but was too old to fight again. If there was a break with England, he says, his business of building and repairing houses, would be destroyed.

But, he says, he cannot express his feelings: the local Committee is strictly enforcing its ban on English tea and though it had no force of law, someone who broke faith would be shamed in the Gazetteer as “an Enemy of American Liberty,” would no longer get business, and ultimately be forced out of the community. So he keeps his views to himself. Taxes? What difference does it make to pay taxes to England or taxes to the Congress, he says. And doesn’t England deserve to get repayment for the expense of fighting for the colonies? How would those who would break from England confront the greatest army on earth? Would they get aid from foreign powers like France, when France would want to take over the colonies for itself?

He gives me the sense of what a difficult dilemma this was – the prospect of confronting the most powerful nation the world had never known, the superpower of its time – and how while there had never been consensus (New York patriots fled to Philadelphia), the forcefulness with which the revolutionaries pressed their cause, the violence, a literal civil war within communities.

He goes on to show the group of Candlelight visitors that has gathered how the owner of the House, Martin Schenck, would have celebrated St. Nicholas Day (Dec. 6), when the children put out wooden shoes, filled with a carrot to draw the horse that St. Nicholas rides through the sky on, and leaves them treats – an orange that would have been an expensive treat having been imported from Jamaica, and skates for the young girl, a pull-toy for the baby.

*The Noon Inn, built around 1850 in East Meadow by John H. Noon, innkeeper, is the centerpiece of Old Bethpage Village Restoration* © *Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Then, at The Barn on the Long Island Fairgrounds- a reconstruction of the Queens county Agricultural Society Fairgrounds that was built in Mineola, 1866-1884, there is the model train show, crafts fair, contra dancing, a brass ensemble and a delightful performance of “Scrooge’s Dream” (a condensed version of Dickens’ “Christmas Carol”).

This year, the Old Bethpage Candlelight Evenings are only five nights, Dec. 22, 23, 27, 28 and 29, 5-9:30 pm. Old Bethpage Village Restoration, 1303 Round Swamp Road (Exit 48 of the Long Island Expressway), 516-572-8401; Adults/$10, children 5-12/$7 (under 5 are free); and $7 for seniors and volunteer firefighters.

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© 2018 Travel Features Syndicate, a division of Workstyles, Inc. All rights reserved. Visit goingplacesfarandnear.com, www.huffingtonpost.com/author/karen-rubin , and travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate/. Blogging at goingplacesnearandfar.wordpress.com and moralcompasstravel.info. Send comments or questions to [email protected]. Tweet @TravelFeatures. ‘Like’ us at facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Attractions, Festivals and Events, Holiday Travel, Holidays in New York, New York City travel, Uncategorized

Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Balloon Inflation Draws Thousands

November 22, 2018 krubin723

Macy’s Balloon Inflation goers get a first look at Goku, the legendary hero of Dragon Ball who makes his Parade debut this year ahead of his starring role in the North American theatrical release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly this January © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

By Karen Rubin, Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Millions will line the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade route despite record cold temperatures for the 92^nd annual parade, but on the night before Thanksgiving, tens of thousands come out to take part in a pre-holiday festival, which has come to be known as the Macy’s Balloon Inflation.

After braving lines that funnel through 73^rd and Columbus to Central Park West, snaking up to 77^th Street, they get to see up close as 16 giant character helium balloons and 43 novelty/ornament balloons, balloonicles (a hybrid balloon and vehicle that Macy’s invented), balloonheads and trycaloons (a Macy’s hybrid tandem bicycle and balloon concoction) being readied for their Thanksgiving Day flights. The new class of balloons includes the anime star Goku from “Dragon Ball Super, Broly”; Fleck, Bjorn, Jojo and Hugg the elf stars of Netflix’s “The Christmas Chronicles,” Little Cloud by Friends With You; the newest entry into the Parade’s Blue Sky Gallery series of balloons by renowned contemporary artists, the Go Bowling pins and bowling ball balloonicles; Sinclair’s Baby Dino balloonicles and the astronaut star of Macy’s Christmas celebrations, Sunny the Snowpal.

Hundreds of volunteers take part in the event, many who will be proudly marching with their balloons the next day. Among them, Douglas Malnati, who has been one of the balloon volunteers for 15 years, starting right out of college. He’s otherwise an IT guy.

Douglas Malnati, who has been one of the balloon volunteers for 15 years, starting right out of college. He’s otherwise an IT guy. He will be handling one of the balloons in the 92nd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Here’s who to look for in the parade

CHARLIE BROWN PEANUTS WORLDWIDE

Everyone’s favorite blockhead, PEANUTS’ Charlie Brown once again flies through New York City with his trusty kite. This November, Charlie Brown will practice his flight moves ahead of next year’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of man- and beagle-kind landing on the moon! The celebration kicked off in July with the signing of a Space Agreement with NASA to bring the joy of space exploration to a new generation. Despite getting tangled with his kite’s tail, Charlie Brown is sure to arrive just in time to 34th Street for his big moment in the spotlight. Balloon Dimensions: 53-feet long, 31-feet wide, 46-feet tall Fun Fact: Charlie Brown’s famous kite measures 26-feet wide and nearly 30-feet tall and its tail is more than 80-feet long.

*Charlie Brown gets inflated ahead of next year’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of man- and beagle-kind landing on the moon © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

DIARY OF A WIMPY KID® ABRAMS CHILDREN’S BOOKS

The mega-popular star of the internationally best-selling book series, Greg Heffley will fly in the Parade for the ninth time this Thanksgiving. The second edition of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid balloon takes its third trip down the Parade route celebrating the release of the 13th book in the series, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown.” As always, Greg will delight millions of fans as he seemingly slips on ice during his Parade march down the streets of New York City. Balloon Dimensions: 62-feet long, 32-feet wide, 62-feet tall Fun Fact: 2018 marks the ninth Parade appearance for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and the third flight of the latest version of the main character Greg Heffley as a balloon giant.

SINCLAIR’S DINO® SINCLAIR OIL CORPORATION

America’s most famous Apatosaurus, Sinclair’s DINO (pronounced DYE-NO), returns to New York City after traveling across the country visiting stations and meeting fans. DINO is a classic Parade balloon, first appearing in the 1963 Macy’s march. Balloon Dimensions: 72-feet long, 24-feet wide, 36-feet tall Fun Fact: The original DINO balloon was inducted as an honorary member of the Museum of Natural History in 1975, and the balloon returned to the Macy’s Parade in 2015, after nearly 40 years.

THE ELF ON THE SHELF® The holiday season would not be the same without Santa’s trusted Scout Elves. The arrival of the Elf on the Shelf® balloon marks the kickoff of the holiday season for families across the country as they prepare to welcome back their Scout Elves during Scout Elf Return Week™. Balloon Dimensions: 46-feet tall, 28-feet wide, 64-feet long Fun Fact: The Elf on the Shelf balloon is one of the biggest balloons in the Parade by height, width and length.

DRAGON BALL SUPER: BROLY’S GOKU FUNIMATION® The legendary hero of Dragon Ball takes to the streets of Manhattan for his Parade debut this year ahead of his starring role in the North American theatrical release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly this January. Goku, the star of the iconic Japanese animation franchise Dragon Ball, is a Saiyan warrior who was sent to destroy Earth as a child. When a brain injury changed Goku’s programming, he became peaceful, good-natured, loving and honest – many adjectives that describe the celebration of Thanksgiving! Balloon Dimensions: 70-feet long, 36-feet wide, 56-feet tall Fun Fact: The Goku balloon is depicted in his new Super Saiyan Blue form, which represents a new era of the Dragon Ball franchise.

ILLUMINATION PRESENTS DR. SEUSS’ THE GRINCH ILLUMINATION ENTERTAINMENT Everyone’s favorite Christmas curmudgeon returns this Thanksgiving as The Grinch, along with his loyal dog Max, return to the Parade route trying to steal more than just Santa’s thunder. With a sack full of toys the duo celebrates their second Parade this year and the release of the new comedy Illumination Presents Dr. Seuss’ THE GRINCH Balloon Dimensions: 49-feet long, 24-feet wide, 37-feet tall Fun Fact: The Grinch and Max are only the fourth-ever giant balloons to take flight as a duo in the Parade’s history.

*Watching the Macy’s Balloon Inflation has become an iconic New York City event along with the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, now in its 92nd year © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

JETT BY SUPER WINGS™ ALPHA GROUP Jett, the fun-loving transforming plane from the animated preschool series Super Wings on both Netflix and Universal Kids, is used to adventure as he travels the world delivering packages to children and solving problems along the way. This November he will be fueled and ready for takeoff on his second flight through the streets of New York City Thanksgiving morning. Balloon Dimensions: 47-feet long, 39-feet wide, 31-feet tall Fun Fact: Jett made his debut in 2017 and is the widest balloon in the Parade — his wingspan is equal to the size of an actual Learjet.

OLAF WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS Olaf, the beloved snowman from Disney’s Frozen, returns to the Macy’s Parade with his usual cheerful disposition on full display. Taking a break from his starring role in the hit Broadway Musical Disney’s Frozen, Olaf will spread dazzling smiles down the route, warming the hearts of millions of spectators this Thanksgiving. Balloon Dimensions: 58-feet long, 32-feet wide, 60-feet tall Fun Fact: Olaf is the first-ever Macy’s balloon to glisten, mimicking real snow. This required perfecting the right mixture of white shades of paint and glitter that truly make Olaf standout as he takes flight down the Parade route.

PAW PATROL® SPIN MASTER LTD. & NICKELODEON Showing the citizens of New York that “no job is too big, no pup is too small” Chase the Police pup from the popular preschool series, PAW Patrol, is ready to protect all as he flies down the 2.5-mile route this November. Balloon Dimensions: 60-feet long, 36-feet wide, 43-feet tall Fun Fact: Chase’s hat could cover an actual police squad car and his paws are larger than two full-grown German shepherd dogs.

*Macy’s volunteers inflate Toothless, from How to Train Your Dragon © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

PIKACHU™ THE POKÉMON COMPANY INTERNATIONAL The much-loved Pokémon Pikachu returns to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the 18th consecutive year – just in time for the launch of Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee, the newest video games from the popular entertainment franchise. This year, Pikachu is bundled up in a warm scarf for the chilly New York weather, ready to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season with fans. Balloon Dimensions: 36-feet long, 29-feet wide, 53-feet tall Fun Fact: While the Parade’s third version of Pikachu is of giant proportions, Pikachu in reality officially measures just 1-foot, 4-inches tall.

PILLSBURY DOUGHBOY™ PILLSBURY™ Inspiring Thanksgiving bakers across the country, the classic Pillsbury Doughboy celebrates the fall spectacular at Macy’s alongside millions of Americans as they enjoy both his cheerful giggle and home baked holiday treats. Balloon Dimensions: 54-feet long, 34-feet wide, 46-feet tall Fun Fact: It would take more than four million Pillsbury Crescent Rolls to create a “dough-sized” version of the balloon.

*Macy’s Balloon Inflation © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

RED MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGER HASBRO The 92nd Parade marks The Power Rangers’ historic 25th anniversary. It remains one of the longest running live action children’s series in television history. The iconic Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger balloon will remind millions of Parade spectators that it’s Morphin Time! this Thanksgiving. Balloon Dimensions: 77-feet long, 26-feet wide, 56-feet tall Fun Fact: The larger than life Red Mighty Morphin Power Ranger is the longest balloon in the Parade; one of his arms is the length of a standard school bus at 45-feet.

RONALD McDONALD® McDONALD’S® Ronald McDonald, the world’s most famous clown and McDonald’s Chief Happiness Officer, gives his signature “thumbs up!” to the season of thanks as he joins millions in celebrating the start of the holiday season. Ronald says; “see a smile, share a smile” and he is sure to delight spectators and prompt millions of smiles across the country. Balloon Dimensions: 61-feet long, 29-feet wide, 67-feet tall Fun Fact: The iconic “Big Red Shoes” Ronald is wearing are 6-feet long!

*Ronald McDonald, 61-feet long, 29-feet wide, 67-feet tall, at Macy’s Balloon Inflation © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS NICKELODEON The nation’s favorite pineapple-dwelling sea sponge, will celebrate his 14th Parade this Thanksgiving. Next year, Nickelodeon invites fans to join a celebration of 20 years of SpongeBob – one of the most beloved animated characters in TV history – with a new season of episodes, events and more. Balloon Dimensions: 41-feet long, 34-feet wide, 44-feet tall Fun Fact: SpongeBob SquarePants defied gravity as the first-ever square Parade balloon and is pulled into his signature shape by more than 800 internal tie-lines.

TOOTHLESS DREAMWORKS ANIMATION’S HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD The world’s most heroic dragon, Toothless will return this fall for a new flight down the Parade route. The famed Night Fury will fly above the streets of Manhattan, before he and his Viking friend Hiccup are seen in DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ,which opens in theaters nationwide this winter. Balloon Dimensions: 72-feet long, 36-feet wide, 48-feet tall Fun Fact: This midnight-colored dragon used a special paint to get his signature color. It collects heat in order to properly conserve his helium filled structure.

Macy’s volunteers inflate Toothless, from How to Train Your Dragon. This midnight-colored dragon used a special paint to get his signature color. It collects heat in order to properly conserve his helium filled structure © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com

TROLLS© DREAMWORKS ANIMATION AND UNIVERSAL PICTURES TROLLS stars Poppy, Branch and Guy Diamond will once again fly and swing down the Parade route on their Caterbus. Officially kicking off the holiday season, the Trolls will spread color, joy and cheer to a nationwide audience on both the route and in DreamWorks’ Trolls Holiday this fall. Balloon Dimensions: 57-feet long, 38-feet wide, 38-feet tall Fun Fact: Each of the Troll’s iconic hair is more than 12-feet tall.

*TROLLS stars Poppy, Branch and Guy Diamond get ready to fly and swing down the Parade route © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

NOVELTY BALLOONS FLECK, BJORN, JOJO AND HUGG NETFLIX’S “THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES” Meet Fleck, Bjorn, Jojo and Hugg. These charming elves will help Santa save Christmas in the new Netflix film “The Christmas Chronicles.” You can often find tiny Fleck carrying Santa’s bag tracker and Bjorn in a candy cane-fueled toy-making frenzy, while troublemaker Jojo delivers letters to Santa and Hugg is hard at work making toys with his chainsaw. Balloon Dimensions: 16, 20-feet wide, 30-feet tall Fun Fact: The Christmas Chronicles elves are the first Netflix balloons to be featured in the Parade.

Fleck, Bjorn, Jojo and Hugg the elf stars of Netflix’s “The Christmas Chronicles,” are new for the 92nd Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

LITTLE CLOUD FRIENDSWITHYOU™ Little Cloud, the iconic emblem of art collaborative FriendsWithYou, takes to the sky on Thanksgiving as part Macy’s Blue Sky Gallery series, which invites contemporary artists to recreate their work as Parade balloons. Artists Samuel Borkson and Arturo Sandoval III will join Little Cloud and two raindrops in this year’s Parade, creating an artistic expression of joy and love fitting for the iconic Macy’s Parade route. Balloon Dimensions: 22-feet tall, 30-feet wide Fun Fact: Little Cloud represents the seventh balloon in Macy’s Blue Sky Gallery art balloon series.

THE NUTCRACKER UNIVERSAL ORLANDO RESORT™ This classic Christmas decoration appears in the form of a super-sized balloon to help kick off the holiday season! The Nutcracker balloon made its debut in the 2017 “Universal Holiday Parade featuring Macy’s” at Universal Studios Orlando, and marched its way up to New York to join the Parade this Thanksgiving. Balloon Dimensions: 45 feet tall, 18.5 feet wide, 16-feet long Fun Fact: The Nutcracker balloon is 24 times the size of the traditional holiday decoration.

SUNNY THE SNOWPAL One of the many holiday heroes in this year’s Parade is Macy’s very own Snowpal, Sunny! This cool cosmonaut comes to the rescue with her friend Fox when Santa’s sleigh breaks down on Christmas Eve. Blasting off in her rocket ship, Sunny works her magic to repair the sleigh and save the day, showing us all that there are so many reasons to believe in the wonder of giving! Balloon Dimensions: 26-feet tall, 19-feet wide, 16-feet long Fun Fact: Sunny is an original character created for Macy’s 2018 holiday campaign.

BALLOONICLES (A Macy’s Parade innovation, hybrid cold air balloon and self-propelled vehicle) BABY DINOS SINCLAIR OIL CORPORATION The three newborn Baby DINOS from Sinclair Oil Corporation are anything but prehistoric! The adorable Apatosaurus trio came straight from the nest to join the Sinclair DINO balloon in this year’s Parade. Fun Fact: Like the Sinclair DINO balloon, the Baby DINO balloonicles appear in life-size form. GO BOWLING There will be turkeys at Thanksgiving meals and on the Parade route this year with the new Go Bowling™ balloonicles. Two bowling shoes and six bowling pins will be chased by a determined bowling ball down the route. Fun Fact: With 16-foot-tall bowling pins and a 12-foot diameter bowling ball, this Balloonicle is sure to score! 5 THE AFLAC DUCK AFLAC, INC. The world’s most famous “spokesduck,” the Aflac Duck has returned for his eighth Parade, having smartly prepared all year long so he would not miss this quintessential NYC holiday experience. Balloonicle Dimensions: 30-feet tall, 15-feet wide Fun Fact: The Aflac Duck’s glowing heart is encased by his heart shaped-wings. His inner tube base to “slide” down the Parade route is larger than the size of an in-ground home swimming pool.

One of the hundreds of volunteers out braving cold and wind cheerily inflating the 16 giant character balloons and 43 novelty balloons that will fly in the 92nd Annual Macy’s thanksgiving Day Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

HERITAGE BALLOON AND BALLOON

HEAD LINE-UPS

ARRTIE, THE PIRATE Arrtie the Pirate a recreation of the classic Pirate balloon of 1947 returns! Arrtie, the loveable pirate with map in hand is on a search for Holiday treasure this Thanksgiving. Balloon Dimensions: 36-feet tall Fun Fact: A staple of the Parade in the late 1940s and 1950s, Arrtie was recreated as part of the Parade’s heritage balloon program that reinvents historic Macy’s characters for a new audience.

MACY’S STARS (BLUE & WHITE, RED & GOLD, YELLOW, GOLD STARFLAKES, BELIEVE) You’ll be seeing stars at the 2018 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade– literally! See if you can spot them in blue and white, red and gold, with gold star flakes, in yellow and proclaiming “Believe” at various points in the parade lineup! Balloon Dimensions: 12-feet deep, 24-feet wide, 25-feet tall Fun Fact: The Macy’s Stars are representative of the Parade’s changing color scheme from autumnal colors to the bright and cheerful colors of the holiday season.

PILGRIM MAN & WOMAN BALLOONHEADS MAMA, PAPA & BABY BALLOONHEADS The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade family would not be complete without Pilgrim Man & Woman and the Mama, Papa and Baby Balloonheads! Balloon Dimensions: 12-feet tall with costume, 4-feet wide Fun Fact: The balloonheads are based on classic Parade designs from the 1940s.

AMERICANA SPHERES Rounding out the 2018 lineup are the new Americana Spheres. These patriotic balloons bring the colors of the flag to new heights. Balloon Dimensions: 14-feet wide Fun Fact: Originally conceived by legendary Macy’s Designer Manfred Bass in the 1980s

TRYCALOONS (A Macy’s Parade innovation featuring a hybrid tandem tricycle and balloon) BULLDOG Beware of dog! The Bulldog Trycaloon’s bark is as big as his bike. TOUGH GUY There’s been a jailbreak on the Parade route, and the Tough Guy Trycaloon is one inflatable character you don’t want to mess with.

NUTCRACKER Clara joins the title character of Tchaikovsky’s famous holiday ballet on a high-speed Trycaloon chase alongside the Mouse King. MOUSE KING The villainous Mouse King from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet pedals down Manhattan accompanied by one of his furry-tailed soldiers.

Macy’s CEO Jeffrey Gennette with NYC Mayor Bill DeBlasio, Police Commissioner Jim O’Neil, Congressman Jerry Nadler, NYS Senator Jose Serrano, and NYS Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal discuss preparations for the 92nd annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade during the Balloon Inflation Event © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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Arts & Entertainment, Festivals and Events

Gold Coast International Film Festival Announces 2018 Winners

November 15, 2018 krubin723

by Karen Rubin

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

*Regina Gil, executive director of the Gold Coast International Film Festival and Gold Coast Arts Center, at awards luncheon © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

After 10 days and 80 films from 22 countries screened, many the United States or Long Island premiere, the 2018 Gold Coast International Film Festival came to a close and declared the winners:

The Audience Award Winner for Best Narrative was “The Lost Suit,” a bittersweet story made in Argentina and Spain by Pablo Solarz about an 88-year-old Jewish tailor who embarks on a long, transcontinental journey to try and find the man who saved him from certain death during the Holocaust. Heartfelt and charming, with a wonderful comedic flavor, the film reminds us of the importance of family, friendship, and keeping your word. Out of 230 audience-goers, 212 gave the film the highest ranking. “People were obsessed with it.” The Gold Coast arts center, which stages cinema series throughout the year, is hoping to bring it back.

*Regina Gil, GCIFF founder, and Caroline Sorokoff, Festival Director, present GCIFF 2018 award for Best Narrative to “The Last Suit” © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Audience Award Winner for Best Documentary Feature Film went to “Heading Home,” by Seth Kramer, Daniel A. Miller, Jeremy Newberger, a stirring underdog chronicle of the unexpected triumph of Israel’s national baseball team at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. With their Mensch on the Bench mascot by their side, the team laughs and cries as they discover the pride of representing Israel on the world stage. The screening featured a Q&A with Co-Director Jeremy Newberger.

The Audience and Jury Award Winners for Best Narrative Short Film went to “Stems” and Best Documentary Short Film award was won by two films, “Wendy’s Shabbat” and “One Small Step.”

Regina Gil, GCIFF founder, and Alexandra Gil, curator of the festival Shorts, present GCIFF 2018 awards for Best Short Documentary Film to “Wendy’s Shabbat” and “One Small Step” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

A new award this year, Best Family Short Film, went to Rag Dolls.

Shorts film curator Alexandra Gil viewed some 2,000 submissions before making the selections for the festival.

*The winner of the new Gold Coast International Film Festival 2018 Award for Best Family Short Film went to “Rag Dolls” © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The awards winners for the 8^th annual festival were named at a gala lunch at the NM Café at Neiman Marcus Roosevelt Field, a major sponsor of the festival, which also supports youth arts programs. Other major sponsors included the Town of North Hempstead and Douglas Elliman Real Estate, which provided important seed money “when we were just an idea” and have kept up. Hofstra University is also a major supporter, offering film programs including internships.

Some 4,000 tickets were sold; audience goers came from 180 zipcodes. Audience goers get to see films that are rarely screened outside of independent theaters in New York City – the festival brings films to the suburbs. Many of the documentaries, like “Bathtubs Over Broadway,” an astonishing documentary about Steve Young’s quest to collect Industrial Musicals which sets him on a journey to meet the makers; and “Happy” Academy Award® nominated director Roko Belic’s film explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion, traveling from the bayous of Louisiana, the deserts of Namibia, the beaches of Brazil and the villages of Okinawa to a communal home in Denmark; and short films are only seen at festivals. There are also opportunities to hear from filmmakers and historians and engage in question and answers. One special program gives Young Filmmakers, from K-12, a chance to shine (and shine they did).

Here are more highlights from the festival:

A musical-comedy-documentary! Comedy writer Steve Young’s assignment to scour bargain-bin vinyl for a Late Night with David Letterman segment becomes an unexpected, decades-spanning obsession when he stumbles upon the strange and hilarious world of industrial musicals in this amazing, revelatory and entertaining film, “Bathtubs Over Broadway,” by Dava Whisenant. The film’s star, Steve Young, participated in a Q&A after the GCIFF screening © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Paul Lieberstein, best known as Toby from “The Office,” plays nice-guy Fred in “Song of Back and Neck,” this charming romantic comedy which Lieberstan also directed. Fred rarely gets through the day without falling to the ground with crippling back and neck pain, and is not taken seriously by anyone at work. But as he discovers unexpected love and a rather unique talent, it is just the start of the unpredictable happenings coming his way. Lieberstein joined an audience Q&A via Skype following the Long Island premiere of his film © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

“Howard,” an intimate and insightful tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent, the legendary lyricist Howard Ashman by Don Hahn, revealed the incalculable impact Ashman had on Broadway, movies and the culture at large even beyond his ingenious lyrics. The audience gets to see much of his creative process behind such stellar hits as “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Little Mermaid,” “Little Shop of Horrors.” Howard’s sister, Sarah Ashman Gillespie and his partner Bill Lauch were on hand after the screening, which was sponsored by AARP Long Island, for a Q&A and to share their personal reflections © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

What makes you happy? Money? Kids and family? Your work? Academy Award-nominated director Roko Belic’s documentary, “Happy” explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion. From the bayous of Louisiana, the deserts of Namibia, the beaches of Brazil and the villages of Okinawa to a communal home in Denmark, Belic goes in search of what really makes people happy. The GCIFF presentation was sponsored by Katz Institute for women’s Health at Northwell Health, and a panel of experts from the Center for Wellness and Integrative Medicine and Katz Institute were on hand to discuss the role of mindfulness and innovations in integrated, holistic approaches: Tina Conroy, Director of Energy and Healing; Bella Grossman, Clinical Psychologist, Marissa Licata, Registered Dietition, Deborah McElligott, Cardiac Nurse Practitioner and Lucy Gade, Medical Director © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Filmmaker Andrew Toscanao, who is in fifth grade at Northside elementary in Plainview, NY, discusses his film, “The Lego Agent: Dr. Evil’s Revenge” at the Gold Coast International Film Festival’s Young Filmmakers Program. Young Filmmakers are also invited to participate in a free day of hands-on filmmaker workshops for filmmakers in grades 7-12, Saturday, March 16, at Hofstra University, a festival sponsor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

*Eliad Lienhardt came from Switzerland to discuss the making of his film short, “Alison”after the screening at the Gold Coast International Film Festival © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Famed director Peter Bogdanovich has created a love-letter to Buster Keaton, one of Hollywood’s most prolific, influential and innovative filmmakers, Buster Keaton. “The Great Buster,” is a celebration of Keaton’s life, career and legacy. The story told with stunning restorations of archival works that bring Keaton’s magic to life on the big screen, plus interviews with his friends, family, collaborators, and a broad array of artists influenced by his singular vision, including Mel Brooks, Bill Hader, Cybil Shepherd and Quentin Tarantino. Professor Rodney F. Hill, film scholar, was on hand for a Q&A after the screening of the documentary © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

The 2018 festival kicked off with a Gold Coast Arts Center gala in Great Neck, Long Island honoring film and television star Robert Wagner with the second annual Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award in recognition of his long, illustrious career that began in 1950. (See story.)

Actor Robert Wagner, honored with the Gold Coast Film Festival’s second annual Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award at the Gold Coast Arts Center’s gala, discusses his career with film historian, author, and professor Foster Hirsch © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

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Arts & Entertainment, Festivals and Events

Gold Coast Film Festival Kicks Off With Gala Honoring Film & TV Legend Robert Wagner with Hollywood Golden Era Award

November 2, 2018 krubin723 1 Comment

by Karen Rubin

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

The stars shone over the Gold Coast Arts Center in Great Neck, Long Island as film and television star Robert Wagner was honored with the second annual Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award in recognition of his long, illustrious career that began in 1950 with his film debut in The Happy Years. The award was presented at the center’s annual gala which also helped raise funds for the nonprofit Arts Center and its Gold Coast International Film Festival, which starts on Friday, November 2, 2018 on the storied Gold Coast of Nassau County’s North Shore, once home to entertainment legends including W. C. Fields, Paulette Goddard, Oscar Hammerstein, Alan King, Francis Ford Coppola, George Segal, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Joining Wagner at the gala were such luminaries as his wife, actress Jill St. John; his daughter Courtney Wagner, who co-hosts Boulevard, their new cable program about the movie stars of Hollywood; actress Sharon Gless (Cagney and Lacey) and her husband, producer Barney Rosenzweig; and Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, whose mother, the late Rita Hayworth, posthumously received the first Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award in 2017.

Iconic talent agent, Budd Burton Moss, the award’s namesake, also attended the event in tribute to his childhood friend. Moss, the most respected and admired talent agent of Hollywood’s Golden Age, attended elementary school in California with Wagner, forging a relationship that has endured since.

Actress Diane Baker and noted radio and television personality Larry King sent along their best wishes via video. Also in attendance were Harriet Fields, granddaughter of the late W.C. Fields, and renowned film historian and film professor, Foster Hirsch, who moderated a candid, lively and informative discussion with Wagner before the presentation of the award.

Wagner may well hold the record for longest continuous career – he has been acting for 70 years, a fact acknowledged by tributes from Larry King and actor Diane Baker.

During the conversation with Hirsch, Wagner spoke of his mentors, who bolstered his career: actor Spencer Tracy, who “changed my life,” and film producer Darryl Zanuck, who basically discovered him, developed him and said of him, “You will be a big star.”

Clark Gable got him a screen test at MGM, but that didn’t work out, and got a contract with 20^th Century Fox ($55 a week), where he stayed for 20 years, a part of the studio system.

“The studio system worked well for me. People at 20^th Century Fox looked out for their people.” His departure coincided with the collapse of the studio system.

“I owe my career to Darryl Zanuck,” he said. “He knew scripts, stories, believed in the people around him. He really cared about me.. Darryl was watching me. When he left [the studio], it was a different situation.”

He joked that he wasn’t happy doing “Prince Valiant,” revolutionary for being one of the first movies filmed in Cinemascope. “It was the wig – it got in the way. Dean Martin talked to me for 10 minutes; he thought I was Jane Wyman.”

He reflected on his transition from film to television – something that wasn’t done at the time. “Lou Wasserman said to me, ‘I want you in this magazine – TV Guide. I think this medium is for you.” Wasserman proposed making a pilot for “It Takes a Thief,” and promised that if it wasn’t picked up, he would make it into a movie. It wasn’t picked up; he made the movie, and then it was picked up.”

“It started mid-season,” Wagner related. “That’s death. I thought my career was gone. But the audience liked it.”

Fred Astaire was his co-star. “There was nobody like him. A meticulous man. I asked him to play my father. I knew him when I was a kid – I went to boarding school with his son. Who asked me over for the weekend at his house. Astaire picked me up, put me in the back seat of his convertible – I was 7 or 8 years old. I didn’t know who Astaire was at the time. I spent a lot of time with him over the years.”

Hirsch pressed him on how his mentors seemed to all be father figures because his own father was “rather difficult.”

“My father was a product of that era. He did things his way. I was programmed to go into his business – steel. I always wanted to be actor in movies, from time I saw my first movie.”

Gold Coast Arts Center/Gold Coast Film Festival Executive Director Regina Gil with actor and gala honoree Robert Wagner and professor Foster Hirsch at the Gold Coast Arts Center gala. © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

He spoke of the many “marvelous leading ladies” he worked with: Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, to list but a few,” writing about them in his book, “I Loved Her in the Movies,” one of three Hollywood memoirs he has published.

“You can’t be a leading man without a leading lady.”

And he spoke lovingly and admiringly of his wife, the actress Natalie Wood, whose real name was Natalia Nikolaevna Zakharenko, a child of Russian immigrants. She made her debut before she was five years old in a 15-second scene in the 1943 film, “Happy Land,” and at the age of seven, played a German orphan opposite Orson Welles and Claudette Colbert in “Tomorrow is Forever” (1946).

“They dyed her hair blond and taught her a German accent… She had God-given talent.”

He said that he doesn’t believe “West Side Story” would have been made without Wood. “She was so good at accents. She was good at everything.”

Among the stars in attendance at the Gold Coast Arts Center Gala honoring actor Robert Wagner with the second annual Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award, were actor Jill St. John, his wife; Sharon Gless and her husband, Barney Rosenzweig, the producer of Cagney & Lacey; and Hollywood agent Burton Moss © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

In the audience was his wife, Jill St. John, “the first Bond girl,” with whom he performed “Love Letters” on the stage, criss-crossing the country for nine years.

“The performances had to be different, otherwise they would have had to take me away with a net. We had to keep it different.”

Wagner’s numerous film credits includes With a Song in My Heart, Broken Lance with the legendary Spencer Tracy, Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, The Pink Panther, The Curse of the Pink Panther, Midway, The Towering Inferno, Banning, Harper, Prince Valiant, The True Story of Jesse James, and All the Fine Young Cannibals. He re-created his role of Number Two, the villainous henchman to Dr. Evil, the archenemy of Mike Myers’ title character in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

On television, Wagner has starred in three long-running hit series, It Takes a Thief, with Fred Astaire, Switch, with Eddie Albert and Sharon Gless and Hart to Hart, with Stefanie Powers. He also starred in the top-rated miniseries Windmills of the Gods, based on Sidney Sheldon’s best-selling novel; with Joanne Woodward in A Kiss Before Dying; and with Elizabeth Taylor in There Must Be a Pony. He also appeared in the memorable Seinfeld episode, “The Yada, Yada, Yada,” as Dr. Abbot.

Edwina Sandys, the sculptor (and Winston Churchill’s granddaughter); actor and honoree Robert Wagner; Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, daughter of Rita Haywood, the award’s first recipient and spokesperson for the Alzheimer’s Association; and Hollywood agent Burton Ross at the presentation of the Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award at the Gold Coat Arts Center gala © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Named for the man who has represented some of Hollywood’s finest stars, the Burton Moss Hollywood Golden Era Award pays tribute to film legends who may not have been honored adequately during their lifetimes, and whose names and legacy are in danger of becoming forgotten by newer generations of filmgoers. The award itself, an original work of art, was created by celebrated sculptor Edwina Sandys, who also attended the event, is a granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill.

Presenting the award to Wagner, Princess Yasmin Aga Khan, who had received the first award on behalf of her mother, Rita Hayworth, said she had devoted her life as a spokesperson for the Alzheimer’s Association, working for a cure, andnoted that among the many programs offered at the Gold Coast Arts Center (programs “from womb to tomb” in art, music, performance) are Making Memories a program that serves those with Alzheimer’s and memory impairment.

Gold Coast Arts Center/Gold Coast Film Festival Executive Director Regina Gil with actor Jill St. John, sculptor Edwina Sandys, honoree actor Robert Wagner, and his daughter, Courtney Wagner and Jon Kaiman, co-president of the Arts Center © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Proceeds from the benefit support the Arts Center’s outreach projects including Making Memories, as well as ArtReach, a program that brings Arts Center faculty and programs to underserved schoolchildren and others, to enrich their curriculum with arts education in the areas of ceramics, painting, music, dance, and chess.

The gala kicks off this year’s Gold Coast International Film Festival, taking place November 2 – 13 at various venues in North Hempstead, Long Island. The festival this year features 80 films over 10 days. (Tickets and information at www.goldcoastfilmfestival.org).

Since 2011, the Gold Coast International Film Festival has brought the latest Hollywood hits and Indie favorites to standing-room-only audiences throughout the fabled Gold Coast of Long Island and beyond. Add A-list celebrities and unforgettable events to the mix, and it’s easy to see why the Gold Coast International Film Festival has become the “go to” festival for film buffs and the public; (it is also the last major film festival on the East Coast before Awards season). The Gold Coast International Film Festival is produced by the not-for-profit Gold Coast Arts Center.

The Gold Coast Arts Center is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting the arts through education, exhibition, performance, and outreach. Located on the North Shore of Long Island, it has brought the arts to tens of thousands of people throughout the region for over 20 years. Among the Center’s offerings are its School for the Arts, which holds year-round classes in visual and performing arts for students of all ages and abilities; a free public art gallery; a concert and lecture series; film screenings and discussions; the annual Gold Coast International Film Festival; and initiatives that focus on senior citizens and underserved communities. These initiatives include artist residencies, after-school programs, school assemblies, teacher-training workshops, and parent-child workshops. The Gold Coast Arts Center is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Partners in Education program, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. More information can be found at www.goldcoastarts.org.

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Arts & Entertainment, Festivals and Events, New York City travel

New York City’s 45th Annual Village Halloween Parade Dazzles with “I AM a Robot” Theme

November 1, 2018 krubin723

*The 45th annual, iconic New York City Village Halloween Parade brought out thousands of costumed participants around the theme, “I AM a Robot!” © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

The 45^th annual, iconic New York City Village Halloween Parade brought out thousands of costumed participants around the theme, “I AM a Robot!”

“With artificial intelligences learning, adapting, interpreting and reacting as humans do, the times we live in can be overwhelming,” said Jeanne Fleming, Artistic/Producing Director of New York’s Village Halloween Parade. “This traditional and beloved event aspires to bring folks into their creative imagination—celebrating that quality that differentiates us from robots—and by extension make the world a better place. We as New Yorkers and those visiting the Big Apple can come together, affirm our identity, block out the distractions, focus on joy and inhabit the streets of New York LIVE.”

“This traditional and beloved event aspires to bring folks into their creative imagination—celebrating that quality that differentiates us from robots—and by extension make the world a better place,” said Jeanne Fleming, Artistic/Producing Director of the Village Halloween Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

“The 2018 Village Halloween Parade celebrates what makes us human by exploring how we remake ourselves. For our part, we will deploy a floating phalanx of cybernetic figures, each tethered by glowing wires to its human controller to evoke the increasingly complex strands of identity that entangle man with machine. We invite all of our Halloween makers and marchers to join our positronic collective, expressing your inner cyborgs for an evening of robotic revelry as we employ our most uniquely human qualities–dreaming, fantasizing, creating–to do our best robot impersonations.”

The theme is timely, considering 2018 is also the 200^th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelley’s publication of “Frankenstein”.

Grand Marshal Machine Dazzle led the VIP Robot Section.

The Village Halloween Parade is:

The nation’s largest public Halloween celebration

Named as The Greatest Event on Earth by Festivals International for October 31

Attended by over 2 million people, seen by over 1 million on TV.

The nation’s only major night Parade.

Listed as one of the 100 Things to do Before You Die.

Picked by Events International as The Greatest Event on Earth on October 31, and ranked 3rd by Citysearch as the best event in New York City.

Ranked by Biz Bash as one of the top 10 events in NYC.

Recipient of the Municipal Arts Society of New York’s Award for making a major contribution to the cultural life of New York City.

Recipient of a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in recognition of Longtime Artistic Achievement.

Recipient of the Mayor’s Tourism Grant in recognition of the Parade’s major impact on the economic life of New York City and grants from the Manhattan Borough President’s Tourism Initiative.

Started by Greenwich Village mask maker and puppeteer in 1974, the Parade began as a walk from house to house in his neighborhood for his children and their friends.

After the second year of this local promenade, Theater for the New City stepped in and produced the event on a larger scale as part of their City in the Streets program. That year the Parade went through many more streets in Greenwich Village and attracted larger participation because of the involvement of the Theater.

After the third year, the Parade formed itself into a not-for-profit organization, discontinued its association with Theater for the New City and produced the Parade on its own.

The Village Halloween Parade has been a significant factor in the revitalization of the city and its spirit.

It also affords an opportunity for political expression.

*One of the more political demonstrations during the 45th annual New York City Village Halloween Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

For more information on the Parade, visit https://www.halloween-nyc.com/.

Here are more highlights:

*The 45th annual New York City Village Halloween Parade brought out thousands of participants © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*The Village Halloween Parade is New York City’s answer to New Orleans’ Carnival © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*The Village Halloween Parade is a family affair © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*Many marchers used the Village Halloween Parade for political expression © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

*The Notorious RBG made an appearance at the 45th Annual Village Halloween Parade in New York City © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The New York City Village Halloween Parade is an opportunity for artistic expression © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

*Making a political point to #Vote at the New York City Village Halloween Parade © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

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Fall Foliage Getaways, Festivals and Events

Halloween Happenings, Oktoberfest Take Center Stage in Fall Festivals

September 24, 2018 krubin723

*Historic Hudson Valley’s incredibly popular Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze will run for a record 45 evenings from late September through Thanksgiving weekend © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

By Karen Rubin

Travel Features Syndicate, goingplacesfarandnear.com

Halloween in Sleepy Hollow Country

SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY — Halloween in Sleepy Hollow Country is legendary, and this year, introduces new events including The Unsilent Picture. Historic Hudson Valley’s fall events, the largest in the tri-state area kick off Friday, Sept. 28, take place on selected evenings through Saturday, Nov. 24, and are expected to draw more than 250,000 visitors,

The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze®, the Hudson Valley’s biggest all-ages fall extravaganza, will run for a record 45 select evenings from late September through Thanksgiving weekend. The walk-through experience lights up the wooded pathways, orchards, and gardens of historic Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., where a small team of artists hand-carve more than 7,000 jacks and elaborate pumpkin sculptures. Visitors will see Blaze favorites, such as a giant spider web and the mammoth sea serpent. New additions include a medieval castle guarded by a flock of jack o’lantern owls, a functioning windmill, and a full set of Instagrammable zodiac signs all made of jack o’lanterns. (Van Cortlandt Manor is at 525 South Riverside Avenue, just off Route 9 in Croton-on-Hudson.)

Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze walk-through experience lights up the wooded pathways, orchards, and gardens of historic Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., where a small team of artists hand-carve more than 7,000 jacks and elaborate pumpkin sculptures, including this one of the Headless Horseman in jack o’lanterns © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

Horseman’s Hollow takes Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” to its most terrifying extremes. Visitors walk a haunted trail where creatures lurk in the shadows, ready to strike fear into the hearts of those brave enough to venture into the darkness. Professional actors, award-winning feature-film makeup artists, and state-of-the-art special effects make the Horseman’s Hollow experience all too real. This 16-night haunted attraction at Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., is recommended for ages 10 and up.

*Horseman’s Hollow at Historic Hudson Valley’s Philipsburg Manor isn’t for the faint of heart. You never know what will emerge from the shadows © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Also at Philipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow is The Unsilent Picture, a brand-new event for 2018. The immersive theater experience features an original black and white film starring Tony Award-winning actor Bill Irwin, accompanied by live music and a Foley artist. The movie, which was commissioned by Historic Hudson Valley and shot on location in buildings at Van Cortlandt Manor, is the center of this 16-night experience. It is recommended for ages 10 and up and contains scenes of drinking alcohol, smoking and snuff tobacco use, implied violence, and mature themes. (Philipsburg Manor is at 381 North Broadway (Route 9) in Sleepy Hollow.)

There are more opportunities to be captivated by Irving’s ‘Legend’ than ever before. Master storytellers Jonathan Kruk and Jim Keyes, accompanied by live organ music, bring to life The Legend of Sleepy Hollow during 45-minute afternoon and evening performances at Sleepy Hollow’s circa-1685 Old Dutch Church. Irving’s ‘Legend’ runs for 16 select dates in October and is recommended for ages 10 and up. The circa-1685 stone church is across the street from Philipsburg Manor, where visitors will park. Weekend afternoon performances are by Jim Keyes and weekday and weekend evening performances are by Jonathan Kruk.

*Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk offers a dramatic reading of Washington Irving’s classic tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, at the Old Dutch Church © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Home of the ‘Legend’ is a daytime, all-ages experience at Washington Irving’s Sunnyside homestead in Tarrytown, N.Y. Visitors can tour the author’s home, embark on a literary-themed scavenger hunt, see a shadow puppet performance, and take part in historic games and Halloween-themed art activities. (Sunnyside is on West Sunnyside Lane, off Route 9 in Tarrytown.)

All events are held rain or shine. Proceeds support Historic Hudson Valley, the Tarrytown-based private, non-profit educational organization that owns and operates the historic sites that host these events.

These events have limited capacity and sell out. All admissions are by advance purchase timed ticket.

Blaze dates are Sept. 28-30; Oct. 4-31; and Nov. 1-4, 7-11, 15-17, 23-24. Online tickets are $22 for adults ($27 on Fridays and Saturdays), $16 for children 3-17 ($20 on Fridays and Saturdays), and free for children under 3 and Historic Hudson Valley members.

Horseman’s Hollow dates are Oct. 5-7, 12-14, 19-21, 25-31. Online tickets are $20 ($25 on Saturdays). Fast Track, a $15 per ticket upgrade, lets visitors skip the line in their time slot. Historic Hudson Valley members receive a $5 per ticket discount.

The Unsilent Picture dates are Oct. 5-7, 12-14, 19-21, 25-31. Online tickets are $18. Historic Hudson Valley members receive a $5 per ticket discount.

Irving’s ‘Legend’ dates are Oct. 5-7, 12-14, 19-21, 25-31. Seating is very limited and there are three performances on weekday evenings and six performances on weekends. Online tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for children under 18. Historic Hudson Valley members receive a $5 per ticket discount.

Home of the ‘Legend’ dates are Sept. 29-30; Oct. 1, 6-7, 13-14, 20-21, 27-28. Online tickets are $16 for adults, $12 for seniors, $8 for children 3-17, and free for those under 3 and Historic Hudson Valley members.

Buy tickets online at www.hudsonvalley.org or by calling 914-366-6900 ($2 per ticket surcharge for phone orders and for tickets purchased onsite, if available).

Haunted Happenings in Salem

Probably the epicenter of Halloween is Salem and to accommodate all the people who want to experience its annual Haunted Happenings festival (more than 500,000 come from around the world for the festival), the entire month of October is devoted to it. Events include a Grand Parade, the Haunted Biz Baz Street Fair, Family Film Nights on Salem Common, costume balls, ghost tours, haunted houses, live music, and chilling theatrical presentations.

Classic experiences include:

Cry Innocent: The People vs. Bridget Bishop, Old Town Hall, 32 Derby Square, daily thru October. The year is 1692. Bridget Bishop has been accused of witchcraft and you are on the Puritan jury. Hear the historical testimonies, cross-examine the witnesses and decide the verdict. Is Bridget Bishop capable of witchcraft? The outdoor arrest scene begins approximately 15 minutes before show time.

Cry Innocent at The Old Town Hall: Bridget Bishop has been accused of witchcraft and you are on the Puritan jury, just one of the Haunted Happenings events in Salem © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com

October Nights At The Gables, include:

Spirits of the Gables: Get swept into Hawthorne’s tale of guilt, greed and revenge as the characters from The House of the Seven Gables (1851), come to life and recount their stories while you walk through the very house that inspired Hawthorne’s timeless novel.

Legacy of the Hanging Judge takes visitors back through Nathaniel Hawthorne’s birth home to the events of the infamous Salem Witch Trials, through the eyes of the author, whose own ancestor, Judge John Hathorne had a hand to play in the tragic events of 1692. The 35-minute performances begin every 10 minutes in The Nathaniel Hawthorne birth house. Combination tickets available. Reservations highly recommended.

House of the Seven Gables: Discover 330 years of Salem’s history as you experience the museum and collection of historic buildings. Built in 1668, this is the oldest surviving 17th century wooden mansion in New England. The House of the Seven Gables inspired author Nathaniel Hawthorne to write his legendary novel of the same name. (House Of Seven Gables, 115 Derby St. 978-744-0991)

The Witch House, home of Judge Jonathan Corwin, is the only structure still standing in Salem with direct ties to the Witchcraft Trials of 1692. Corwin was called upon to investigate the claims of diabolical activity when a surge of witchcraft accusations arose. He served on the court which ultimately sent nineteen to the gallows. 310 1/2 Essex St. (978) 744-8815

Witch Dungeon Museum. Experience the acclaimed performance of a Witch trial adapted from the 1692 historical transcripts. Most chilling is that it is real. 16 Lynde St. (978) 741-3570.

There’s so much to do, you have to visit http://hauntedhappenings.org/ to plan.

Enhance your paranormal experience with a stay at the Hawthorne Hotel, one of Historic Hotels of America’s most haunted member hotels. Built in 1925, in the city notorious for the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, the hotel has ghost stories of its own, mostly attributed to the sea captains who were returning to their gathering place. In particular, rooms 621 and 325 have had reports of lights turning off and on and a general uneasy feeling throughout the rooms (www.hawthornehotel.com).

National Ghost Hunt Day at Lord Baltimore Hotel

Baltimore, Md.– Over the years, guests and staff of the historic Lord Baltimore Hotel, built in 1928, have reported sightings and supernatural activity. On September 29, 2018, the hotel, along with R.E.A.P. Investigations and Spirit Flows Studios, will kick off the Halloween season by taking part in the world’s largest ghost hunt as part of National Ghost Hunt Day.

Activities include three different supernatural settings including an intuitive development class with Spirit Flow’s Amanda Jackiewicz at 5 p.m., which will teach participants how to strengthen their intuition and heighten their awareness and conscientiousness. Following the workshop, Jackiewicz will conduct a limited amount of individual medium sessions from 6-7:30 p.m.

During these sessions, guests will work one-on-one with Jackiewicz to communicate with loved ones in the afterlife. For the final portion of the supernatural event, attendees will participate in a ghost hunt with the R.E.A.P. Investigation team led by Bill Reap beginning at 8 p.m. R.E.A.P. Investigations will hunt for ghostly activities throughout four areas of the hotel, including the Calvert Ballroom and the 19^th floor, which are said to have heightened supernatural activities. At 10 p.m., the Lord Baltimore Hotel will join a live feed with more than 100 other locations as each conduct a ghost hunt at the same time.

Perhaps participants will get a glimpse of Lord Baltimore’s resident ghost: a little girl, wearing a long, cream-colored dress and black, shiny shoes, running by the open doorway, bouncing a red ball before her. There have been many times when guests have asked, “Little girl, are you lost?” and the hallway has been completely empty.

Event proceeds will be donated to Back on my Feet, an organization that helps to combat homelessness through the power of running and community support.

Tickets ($20-50 pp) can be purchased through Eventbrite at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/celebrate-national-ghost-hunting-day-at-the-lord-baltimore-hotel-tickets-49226293168.

Lord Baltimore Hotel is also offering a discounted guest room rate for National Ghost Hunt Day participants. Reservations can be made online through https://reservations.travelclick.com/85390?groupID=2360767#/guestsandrooms.

Held on the last Saturday of each September, National Ghost Hunt Day serves to enthusiastically commence the start of each new Halloween season. Its noble intention is to globally observe the most haunted properties in the world while recognizing the novice, curious, experts and professionals that investigate paranormal activity in these iconic locations! For more information, visit http://nationalghosthuntingday.com.

*Historic Lord Baltimore Hotel is within walking distance of attractions at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor © Karen Rubin/goingplacesfarandnear.com*

The Lord Baltimore Hotel is in the heart of downtown Baltimore, within walking distance of many local attractions. Originally built in 1928, the hotel was purchased in 2013 and completely renovated by Rubell Hotels. A member of Historic Hotels of America (historichotels.org), the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Lord Baltimore is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (20 W. Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD, 21201 www.lordbaltimorehotel.com).

But what may be the most haunted of Historic Hotels of America members is 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa, in Eureka Springs Arkansas: “Guests who check out but never leave” at the 1886 Crescent Hotel and Spa include Michael, the Irish stonemason who helped build the hotel in 1885; Theodora, a patient of Baker’s Cancer Curing Hospital in the late 1930s; and “the lady in the Victorian nightgown”, who likes to stand at the foot of the bed in Room 3500 and stare at guests while they sleep. These are only three of the dozens upon dozens of spirits that guests and visitors have reported encountering in this historic hotel in the Ozark Mountains.

This mountaintop spa resort, which has also become known as “America’s Most Haunted Hotel,” has been featured on popular shows like Ghost Hunter’s and Bio Channel’s My Ghost Story offers nightly tours that gain exclusive access to some of the most famous ghost sighting locations (recommended for 8 years and up; families with younger children should join the earliest tour.) And on October, 31, you can join a Halloween Séance.

For more haunted historic hotels, visit historichotels.org.

Also in Eureka Springs, the 1905 Basin Park Hotel, which features a mysterious underground cave, offers a 90-minute Spirits of the Basin “ghost adventour” that combines a ghost tour with the adventure of paranormal investigation. It starts with a guided ghost hunt (in period costume) of the most haunted spaces and ends with a chilling ghost story told by candlelight and a sample of the bootleg liquor (http://www.spiritsofthebasin.com/)

Oktoberfest Weekend Celebrations Return to Hunter Mountain

Temperatures in the northeast have begun to trend cooler, and as the leaves begin to change, Hunter Mountain is hosting its long tradition of Oktoberfest celebrations.

Voted among the top 10 Best Oktoberfests in the Nation by USA Today, Hunter Mountain’s Oktoberfest weekends celebrate the arrival of autumn with authentic traditional German-American festivities, food and culture with a variety of entertainment options during all four free weekends. Oktoberfest weekends also occur in conjunction with specialty events alongside plentiful food and craft beverages, live music, artistic vendors, lawn games, our Scenic Skyride and much more.

*Hunter Mountain hosts themed Oktoberfest weekends (photo courtesy of Hunter Mountain)*

The Colors in the Catskills: Off-Road Edition is a new arrival for our second weekend of Oktoberfest (Sept. 29 & 30) and allows guests to explore Hunter Mountain’s vast trail network in the midst of fall foliage season. Lead by knowledgeable and experienced guides from Northeast Off-Road Adventures, guests can register their 4X4 vehicles to participate in off-road tours of Hunter Mountain. Additionally, drivers and passengers alike will be able to purchase exclusive camping packages that grant them access to camping right on the Mountain.

The Das Laufwerk Eurocar Rally and 18-time Grammy award winner Jimmy Sturr return to Hunter Mountain for the third weekend of Oktoberfest (Oct. 6 & 7) to rock the stage and showcase some of best European cars our guests have to offer. The Das Laufwerk Eurocar Rally is open to guests and completely free to attend! All European car models are welcome and will have access to exclusive parking in a reserved lot located close to the Hunter Mountain base lodge. Guests attending this weekend of Oktoberfest will have a chance to see the finest in German engineering including Audis, Volkswagens, Porsches and much more.

The final weekend of Oktoberfest (Oct. 13 and 14) will celebrate wineries from around New York State with our Wine Tasting on the Mountain event. This year’s wine tasting event will host wineries from Long Island to the Finger Lakes. Similarly to our Ciders in the Catskills event, guests will be able to purchase VIP tasting packages which provide them with a voucher for 20 wine tastings, a commemorative wine glass and t-shirt as well as admission for one to our Scenic Skyride.

Admission to Oktoberfest is free and gates open each weekend at 11 am – 6:15 pm Saturdays and from 11 am– 5:15 pm Sundays. All four Oktoberfest weekends are held indoors and outdoors, rain or shine.
Located in the heart of the Great Northern Catskills, Hunter Mountain is a four-season resort. Throughout the spring, summer and fall, Hunter Mountain offers a variety of outdoor activities, weddings, group retreats, festivals and concerts while surrounded by magnificent views of the Catskill Mountains. The 3,200’ summit of Hunter Mountain provides panoramic views of the surrounding landscape and is accessible from May – October via the Scenic Skyride. An easy 2 ½ hour ride North of New York City, Hunter Mountain can be a day trip or overnight getaway for sightseeing, relaxation, hiking, fly fishing, zip lining and much more.

*Hiking up Kaaterskill Falls, one of the hikes on the Hudson River School Art in the Catskills, NY. New York State offers a weekly foliage update © Karen Rubin/ goingplacesfarandnear.com*

Hunter Mountain abuts the Catskills Preserve with spectacular hiking. Follow the Hudson River School Art Trail (my favorite trails are in the North-South Campground and Kaaterskill Falls).

Further help planning a visit is available from Greene County Tourism, 700 Rte 23B, Leeds, NY 12451, 800-355-CATS, 518-943-3223, www.greatnortherncatskills.com and its fall hub http://www.greatnortherncatskills.com/catskills-fall-foliage

The I LOVE NEW YORK weekly foliage report – a detailed map charting fall color progress, vantage points for viewing spectacular foliage, suggested autumn getaways and weekly event listings – is available at www.iloveny.com/foliage or by calling 800/CALL-NYS (800/225-5697).
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