“The niche of the modern vintage-inspired boutique is to offer stylish and affordable USA made, fair trade, cruelty free, vegan, and other conscious products all in one beautiful store designed to inspire customers,” says Bobbi Jo Forte, Co-Founder and Marketing Director for Living Eden. She goes on to say that “Red Hook, Tivoli, and Rhinebeck are home to an abundance of natives and transplants who are passionate about environmental and social issues, and want to feel the satisfaction of picking up a product and seeing where it is made, and what good it is doing for people, animals, and the planet.”

The boutique will offer eco-chic clothing for women, men, and kids, fair trade home decor, cruelty-free cosmetics, green toys, upcycled gifts, natural products for baby, and more. The adjacent “Market” will feature a selection of local farm market products such as jams, sauces, and syrup plus a variety of slavery-free chocolates, super foods, and vegan products. “This store is a dream come true—full of products I believe in—and it is an honor to share this more compassionate way of life with others who are equally inspired by conscious capitalism and social progress,” says co-founder Bonnie Schweppe.

The other draw of Living Eden will be workshops and classes hosted by artists, authors, fine crafts people, and other experts. “As social creatures we crave inspiration and knowledge so the workshops will provide a venue for learning fine crafts and trades, and will hopefully have a positive impact on Red Hook’s economy by bringing more foot traffic to the Village,” states Forte.

LivingEden.com will offer an online store and blog featuring most of what the brick and mortar store offers. It will launch on May 11, 2013, as well. Additionally, the company will have a strong presence on Facebook and other social media platforms.

Partners Bobbi Jo Forte and Bonnie Schweppe have been working on the Living Eden concept for more than a year. The two met when Schweppe was buying a barn for her new mini farm sanctuary and Forte was helping a stray dog. An instant friendship was formed. During their many animal rescue adventures, they discovered each other’s passion for living more compassionately—and the Living Eden concept was born. Friend and aspiring designer Kaitlin Forbes joined the team in February 2013.

According to Red Hook Village Mayor Ed Blundell, Living Eden is a perfect fit for Red Hook’s new vibe. “Our village has been at the forefront of developing the vibrant setting that residents need and want. Our work to improve walkability and seek new, exciting businesses is coming to fruition with the news that Living Eden is getting ready to open shop shortly. Landlord Jack Dillon had done a remarkable restoration of his building, and now we are getting a creative retailer with a conscience—a real win for the Village. We welcome Living Eden, and encourage residents and visitors alike to shop local and support all of our locally-owned shops.”

For general questions email Living Eden at info@livingeden.com, or call 845.475.2619. And be sure to check out the store in person in Red Hook Village, and online at LivingEden.com starting May 11.

The evening begins in the Rhinebeck High School auditorium at 5:30 p.m., with guest speakers celebrating the role the Arts have in our lives. We are very fortunate to have NYS Senator Terry Gipson and Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro share a few words about the Arts and Economic Development in our region. Keynote speaker Liza Donnelly, local cartoonist with the New Yorker, will share her views concerning the Arts and Education.

The celebration continues at the Juried Art Exhibit reception at the Betsy Jacaruso Studio & Gallery, 43-2 E Market Sreet (in the courtyard behind Bread Alone) in Rhinebeck, with refreshments donated by village restaurants and live music.

The art exhibit was juried by Dennis Anderson, who served as the Director of Curatorial & Tour Services at the Empire State Plaza Art Collection in Albany for 22 years, and Mary-Kay Lombino, who is The Emily Hargroves Fisher ‘57 and Richard B. Fisher Curator at The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College. They selected artwork representing each of the AAH communities along the Hudson River corridor: Ossining, Peekskill, Garrison/Cold Spring, Beacon, Newburgh, Greater New Paltz Area, Poughkeepsie/Hyde Park, Rhinebeck/Red Hook, Kingston, Saugerties, and Woodstock.

Art Along the Hudson, now expanded to 11 neighborhoods, is a unique year-round collaborative marketing effort to promote towns on or near the river as vibrant arts and cultural communities. It also promotes seven Hudson Valley Studio Tours offering art lovers great opportunities to meet the many artists living and working in the Hudson Valley. A new 2013 brochure will be available at the Kick-Off Event describing the art venues and studio tours.

The Arts are now more than ever a significant economic factor in the revitalization of Main Streets. It is in large part the arts and cultural organizations that help fill restaurants and lodgings, and bring dollars and jobs to the Hudson Valley. From major metropolitan areas to small rural towns, the research shows to what degree the nonprofit arts and culture industry attracts audiences, spurs business development, supports jobs and generates government revenue. Locally, as well as nationally, the arts mean business.

Join us to celebrate our vibrant cultural communities and a year of arts events that will stir the soul and engender prosperity. The Juried Art Exhibit will be on view from Thursday, May 9–Saturday, June 1, at Betsy Jacaruso Studio & Gallery, 43-2 E Market St (the courtyard behind Bread Alone) 845-516-4435. Gallery Hours: Thurs. 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

For more information on the exhibitions and offerings of the Art Along the Hudson Kick off evening contact: betsyjacaruso@gmail.com or visit www.artalongthehudson.com

Imagine, however, not dealing with those problems at 100 or even 125 years old, but spread those years over the sweep of more than three centuries – a full 350 years – and that’s precisely the challenge the Greene County Historical Society faces every day in preserving its Bronck House Museum, the oldest standing stone house in upstate New York.

To help them do that, and in recognition of the Bronck House’s 350th Anniversary, the Society is conducting Windows on History, a massive fundraising campaign to help correct the existing problems and prevent future ones.

GCHS President Robert Hallock explains, “As we often say during the tour of the houses, this house is older than the United States, older than the English colony of New York, and dates back to the time the Dutch had a colonie of New Netherland here in the Hudson Valley.”

Upstairs window showing signs of age. Photo by Jennifer Barnhart.

“Over the years – what these windows have seen, or more appropriately, what the Bronck family members have seen from these windows! The Dutch losing control of their colonie; the English settlement of the colony; the French and Indian War; the American Revolution; the formation of Greene County; the War of 1812; the Civil War; World War I; and the Great Depression.” Then, in 1939, the Bronck House was donated by the family to the Greene County Historical Society and residency at last ended.

The Bronck House Museum’s history, and the heritage it represents, truly are of international cultural value, as the Museum regularly draws visitors from all over the world. In 2012, people from the Netherlands, Brazil, Japan, Australia, and Russia all visited the Museum.

The Museum’s three sections – the 1663 stone house, the 1685 stone house, and the 1738 brick house – all need work. Wooden sills and frames have rotted, bricks have frozen and split, mortar has worn to dust – and all must be addressed, as together they form the strength and endurance of the structures.

Please help Windows on History fulfill its mission by providing whatever donation is possible. Visit our website at www.gchistory.org to make an online donation, or mail a check to Greene County Historical Society, P.O. Box 44, Coxsackie, NY 12051.

The Bronck Museum is a National Historic Landmark and a NYS Revolutionary War Heritage Trail site. Help preserve one of the Hudson Valley’s earliest structures in the year of its 350th Anniversary. Thank you.

To learn more about the Bronck House and farm and the 350th anniversary year, visit the Greene County Historical Society website, http//www.gchistory.org. The Bronck House kicks off its 350th Anniversary celebrations in May.

Longtime readers of this column, i.e. my mom (Hi, mom!) will remember that when we started writing this column four years ago, it was actually about gardening. Not a gardening advice column; unless by “advice column” you mean “cautionary tale as to what to avoid doing.” Eventually, we realized that if we wanted to successfully grow more than two peppers and a sprig of rosemary, we were going to have to build raised beds, a higher fence, and a gate. Then we found out we were going to be parents and knew our limited funds and energies were going to be directed elsewhere. I threw down a cover crop and abandoned the garden to the elements.

Over time, the fence warped and sagged. The cover crop grew, bolted, and spread. It began to look less like a garden and more like a caged, mammoth tumbleweed. People who walked by it would avert their gaze. Children in the neighborhood dared each other to stick their hands through the fence. Birds that landed in the garden would quickly disappear within the tangle of thickets, only to be spit out hours later as gleaming white tiny bones. Every night I came home and expected to see the garden bathed in flashing sirens and police tape.

But it wasn’t the fact that my lawn wanted to kill me that made me think about pulling the gardening tools out of the basement again; instead it was the very thing that caused us to abandon to garden in the first place. Cooper is almost two years old now and loves to run around outside, plucking ripe blueberries from the bushes around our yard and picking cherry tomatoes with us down at the CSA. When rain or snow keeps us inside, he wistfully stares out the window and pretends to pick apples from the air. Cooper needs a garden, and it was time to consider that even a broken down scraggly garden is better than no garden at all.

The singer/songwriter Neko Case once wrote that growing your own food organically from heirloom seeds is the most punk rock thing you could possibly do in this country. You are taking “Do It Yourself” to its logical extreme and giving the middle finger to every single hierarchy and corporation that has wormed its way into our everyday lives. But what would have happened if the Sex Pistols had decided not to play any gigs until they could afford decent instruments and figure out how to play them and master basic hygiene skills? We’d all still be listening to Leo Sayer, and Don Henley would be God Emperor of America. The tattered fence was good enough. Leave the gates and raised beds for Quicksilver Messenger Service. It was time to stick it to The Man and pile into the van for one more tour of V.F.W. halls from coast to coast. Besides, what says “punk rock” more than an awkward suburban dad pushing 40 with New Balance sneakers and a secret fondness for the first four Indigo Girls albums (shhhh)?

So we bought seeds, lawn leaf bags, compost, kid-sized gardening tools, snake repellant, chain mail, and a vial of holy water. We put Cooper to work watering piles of dirt while we cleared the brush with axe and saw and fire, glorious fire. And then I decided to show Cooper how to plant seeds so that the boy and I could share a father/son bonding moment.

As stated previously, I am not an expert in matters of gardening. Nevertheless, I am quite certain that there are very few gardening experts who would advise you to, after meticulously planting several rows of seeds exactly 1/4” deep and spaced exactly 8” apart, run over all of the garden beds and kick the seeds every which way while shouting “DADDY DADDY BIRD BIRD BUGGA HUGGA HUGGA OVALTINE.” I suppose it’s possible that there is some obscure gardening method in which kicking and screaming and scattering is the recommended course of action. I am going to hold out hope that this is the case, for lack of any better options at this point. But it’s more likely that all we did is upgrade our garden from “The forest from the Evil Dead movies” to “Depression-era dust bowl.”

Then again, who knows?  Even after I turned my back on the garden two years ago, the perennial herb garden flourished without me doing a damn thing. Maybe it’s best not to worry and let the seeds fall where they may. If something sprouts, then Cooper and I will care for it. And if not, then we’ll stand in the empty garden and pretend to pick apples from the air. I have a feeling that Cooper won’t mind either way.

Brian PJ and Kristen Cronin live in Beacon with their three cats, and their son Cooper James Cronin. View more of their photos at www.flickr.com/teammoonshine and Instagram.com/kristencronin.

My great-grandfather, Henry Clerkus Sheets, was the last farmer in our family. He farmed in the foothills of Southeast Ohio and produced dairy, salt pork, and tobacco. Henry worked hard and earned enough to own land, eat well and get three of his kids (my grandmother included) to college. Those kids became a teacher, a principal, a welder and a gas station owner. None of them stayed on the farm.

The path my great grandfather was likely proud to put his children on is the same one that 99% of us find ourselves on today. For generations, farm families have been sending their kids away from the land–and all for good reasons: a dairy crisis; discriminatory federal policies that left families of color without a safety net; consolidation and vertical integration; skyrocketing land prices and plummeting incomes. Life has been difficult for many farm families and opportunities outside of the farm sector have grown.

That’s why today there are 28 million fewer farmers than there were in 1920, when my great-grandfather was farming, and that’s in a country with 200 million more people. And because a least two generations of young people left the farm, farmers over 65 now outnumber farmers under 35 by a margin of 6 to 1. As a 34-year-old farmer, I and my husband Ben, along with thousands of young people across this country, are bucking the trend by starting a new farm operation. These young farmers and ranchers represent an incredible opportunity for food, agriculture and rural America.

They are cultivating their crops by hand and with tractors that haven’t seen the outside of a barn in 50 years; they are putting cows and sheep and goats and chickens back on grass where they belong; they are creating jobs and opportunity in places that haven’t seen new industry in decades. They are demonstrating, as did generations before them, the more a farmer is able to care for the land, the more the land gives back. Not just to the farmer, but to everyone.

At our farm, Hearty Roots Community Farm, we grow 25 acres of vegetables and produce eggs for the members of our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program that feeds 900 households in the Hudson Valley and New York City. Our 25 acres is bringing in gross revenue of $425,000 per year, which is being spent mainly on creating jobs in our community. We employ nine other young people—some seasonal and some year round—who in turn spend their paychecks at stores in our town. Many of our supplies are purchased locally or regionally, and our contractors live down the road. The percent of our budget spent on fossil fuels is very small.

Compare that to commodity corn, which is what was being grown on our land before we transitioned it to vegetables. Twenty-five acres of corn produces about $25,000 in revenue; half of that is spent on inputs like fuel and GMO seed and machinery, and only about $750 goes to labor. That means our farm would need to grow over 5,000 acres of corn to produce the same number of jobs we offer producing 25 acres of vegetables. That is half the size of our town.

The more growers we have caring for smaller parcels and maximizing the land’s potential, the more benefits our town will experience. As I said before: The more a farmer is able to care for the land, the more the land gives back.

The challenge is putting more young people, more farmers in the position to do just that. What would our rural communities look like if we had 1 million more farms like Hearty Roots, like the Salad Garden of Missouri, the West Georgia Cooperative, Three Springs Farm in Oklahoma, Kilpatrick Farm of New York, Bucio Farm of California or Sauvie Island Organics outside of Portland? Just think of the social, economic and health benefits for the nation.

But a million new farms like these aren’t going to just come along. It’s not 1920 when Grandpa Henry was farming. Land is crazy expensive (it took us 10 years to find a permanent home for our farm). Banks forgot how to loan to us, and there is now something called a student loan that zaps hundreds of dollars from a bank account each month (for decades), supply chains are in shambles, research on new organic systems is behind the curve, and Federal Policy is largely written to perpetuate what we already have.

In 2010, I co-founded the National Young Farmers Coalition. We are a team of farmers and consumers that want at least a million new farms in this country, and know that big change is necessary to make that possible. We are working to create land agreements, policies and local networks that will create a permanent home for independent, diversified, family-scale farms in the United States.

In our national survey of 1,000 young and beginning farmers, we found that capital was the number one challenge to starting a farm. Of course banks and investors need to be engaged to help solve this challenge, but history teaches us that getting capital to farmers can’t be left to private interests. It is much too important for the nation’s security. That’s why the federal government makes low interest loans to farmers through the Farm Service Agency – and Republican President Theodore Roosevelt helped to start the cooperative Farm Credit system in 1908.

These institutions can do a lot more for young and beginning farmers. We were very proud to have worked with the Farm Service Agency to revise their rules to allow new farmer training programs, such as apprenticeships, to be considered as experience that would qualify them for a loan. And we helped the agency launch a new micro-lending program. But there is so much more that needs to happen.

Right now, Congress only allows the Farm Service Agency to loan a farmer $300,000 to buy a farm, when that amount of money can hardly buy a house in most regions. Also, they have no permanent funding from the Farm Bill. So each year they are at the mercy of the Appropriations Committee, and farmers are left to wait for months on loan decisions.

We need to give this agency more money and more stability, so that farmers can use it like a bank. If you want to go out and buy a house, you get pre-approved from a mortgage lender, then make an offer. If you want to buy a farm with help from the Farm Service Agency, you find the farm, hope that it’s under $300,000, and then beg the owner to slog through many months of bureaucracy while you both wait and hope that money will be available. This is no way to buy a farm, and no way for our most important farm lender to operate when 70% of all farm land is going to change hands in the next 20 years. They are more important than ever before.

And speaking of land, it is the second biggest challenge to getting started farming. Land is selling at prices that are many times what a working farmer can possibly afford. Just like you all have affordable housing in this town, we need to work with the land trust community to create affordable farms in ours. And out in the Midwest, we need to trade the subsidies that grow mega farms for incentives to sell or rent ground to beginners.

But the National Young Farmers Coalition is not waiting on Congress. We are rebuilding local support networks of farmers on the ground. We have local chapters made up of farmers that are helping each other overcome day-to-day obstacles. Our Hudson Valley chapter gathers together to share meals, put plastic on hoop houses, and uses their combined purchasing power to get a better price on animal feed.

We are getting a lot done, but we can’t do it alone. Even if every farmer in the United States stood with us, we would only represent less than half of one percent of the population.

I said before that we’re working in the same structural environment that led to the downfall of so many farms, but I didn’t point out the big difference between now and 20 years ago: you. You as consumers that buy our food. You as consumers that care deeply about the future of American agriculture. You as consumers that might still remember a family farm, even if you didn’t grow up on one. If we’re going to create a new path of opportunity for American farmers—one that helps them care for the land and helps us all experience the benefits that an independent farm can bring—then we need your help.

You can help us rebuild American agriculture by helping everyone buy locally-grown food, encouraging your kids to farm, helping transition farmland to a new generation, and joining with us to tell Congress that if we invest in new farmers, the entire nation will win.

I hope you will join us.

To learn more, visit http://tedxmanhattan.org; http://www.heartyroots.com; http://www.youngfarmers.org

When asked what sets this literary festival apart from others in the region, RHCAN’s Juliet Harrison, a Festival Committee member said, “…we showcase local talent – artists and writers who live in the Hudson Valley.”

The weekend kicks off with an opening reception on Friday, April 12, 6-8 p.m., at RHCAN’s gallery space on North Broadway in Red Hook. The reception opens the Word Works exhibition, showcasing works area artists have created using deaccessioned books donated by the Red Hook Public Library, and works inspired by the written word.

The festivities continue Saturday night at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Parish Hall in Red Hook Village with an evening of entertainment, modeled after NPR’s Selected Shorts. Stories on Stage: Hudson Valley Actors Read Hudson Valley Authors will star Oscar-nominated actor David Strathairn, actor Jason Downs and actor/director Nicole Quinn, who will read short stories by local authors John Sayles, T.C. Boyle, and Abigail Thomas. The evening will be emceed and directed by author and editor Nina Shengold and is produced by Helen Seslowsky of Oblong Books.

The Festival culminates on Sunday, April 14, with a full day of author panels, workshops and book signings, with offerings tailored for all ages. Be sure to come early as all event seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. A full schedule is outlined below. For more information visit: http://www.rhcanadmin.com/red-hook-lit-fest/

Please show your support by attending, and help spread the word by sharing the event with your friends and contacts in the area on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Hook-Community-Arts-Network

The Red Hook Community Arts Network is sponsored by the Dutchess County Arts Council and enjoys support from the Red Hook Chamber of Commerce.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 6-8 pm:

Word Works
Exhibition & Lit Festival Opening Reception
RHCAN Gallery, 7516 N. Broadway
All are invited to see how area artists have transformed deaccessioned books from the Red Hook Public Library, and other work inspired by the written word.

SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 7 pm:

Stories on Stage: Hudson Valley Actors Read Hudson Valley Authors
St. Paul’s Lutheran Church Parish Hall,
7412 S. Broadway
An evening of short stories  starring Oscar-nominated actor David Strathairn (Lincoln, Good Night & Good Luck), Jason Downs (Racing Daylight, Hairspray), and Nicole Quinn (Racing Daylight), reading stories by John Sayles, T.C. Boyle, and Abigail Thomas.* Directed by Nina Shengold, Editor, Actors & Writers member, author of Clearcut, winner of the Writers Guild Award for Labor of Love. Produced by Helen Seslowsky, Oblong Books & Music (Former Head of Arts & Letters Live, Dallas–producer of Texas Bound: Texas-connected actors bringing stories by Texas-connected authors from the page to the stage.)
*Line up may change subject to actors’ commitments.

SUNDAY, APRIL 14

11 a.m.–Noon: I Want to Be in a Band!
Red Hook Public Library, 7444 S. Broadway
Music & Movement Program for kids, featuring author and musician Suzzy Roche, and illustrator Giselle Potter.

11 a.m.–1 p.m.:  Past Tense: Writing History
Red Hook Village Hall, 7340 S. Broadway
Panel moderated by Oblong Books Co-Owner Dick Hermans, featuring non-fiction writers Sarah Kilborne (American Phoenix), Guy Lawson (Octopus) &  John Kelly (The Graves Are Walking).

11 a.m.–1 p.m.: The Influence of Place on Process
Red Hook CAN Gallery, 7516 N. Broadway
Poetry panel moderated by Bard College’s Phillip Pardi, featuring Will Nixon, Rebecca Schumejda, Lea Graham and Gretchen Primack.

2–4 p.m.: Hudson Valley YA Society
Red Hook Public Library, 7444 S. Broadway
Panel featuring Maya Gold (Spellbinding), Jennifer Donnelly (Revolution) & Kimberly Sabatini (Touching the Surface).

2–4 p.m.: Telling Stories: Conversations with Fiction Writers
Red Hook Village Hall, 7340 S. Broadway
Panel moderated by Oblong Books Co-Owner Dick Hermans, featuring Owen King (Double Feature), Kelly Braffet (Save Yourself), Frank Delaney (The Last Storyteller) & Marshall Karp (NYPD Red).

2–4 p.m.: The Business of Books
Red Hook CAN Gallery, 7516 N. Broadway
Panel moderated by Suzanna Hermans, Co-Owner Oblong Books, featuring: agent, Miriam Altshuler; publisher, Paul Cohen; editor, Nan Satter; and author, Carol Goodman.

4:30-6 p.m.: Teen Talk–Open Mic
Taste Budds Cafe, 40 W. Market Street
Red Hook High School students (9-12th grade) will read from their own original work or perform readings of short stories, poems or play excerpts.

All book signings will take place immediately following each panel at Bread & Bottle, located on the corner of Main and Market Streets in the Village of Red Hook, where titles by all participating authors will be available for purchase.

All events are FREE and open to the public. Donations are welcome – visit http://www.rhcan.com for more information and schedule updates.

By the 18th century and the time of the Revolution we know the Broncks were running a successful self-sufficient enterprise growing hay, various types of grain, and livestock on the farm. They even milled their own grain for flour and livestock feed at a gristmill on the Coxsackie Creek. Leonard Bronck, agent for the Coxsackie District during the war, was responsible for gathering provisions necessary to pursue the colonial cause. For example, in August 1780 he received a requisition for ten tons of flour and 20,000 weight of beef, or its equivalent, needed for the army.  The Bronck farm likely contributed its share to filling the requisition.

By the early 1800s the Bronck farm was listed as the most valuable property in Greene County. Corn, acquired from the Indians, was grown in the valley as a cereal crop. Some of the other crops likely grown by the Broncks include: oats for horse feed, barley for beer making, buckwheat for feeding poultry and swine and making pancake meal, and rye for whiskey. Of course the farm also had orchards for growing fruit and making cider as well as hay to feed the livestock, and to sell down the river to the growing New York City metropolitan area. In addition to the crops, the Broncks raised animals of all kinds including horses, cows, swine and poultry.

Even after selling off some of the land over time, during the 19th and early 20th centuries the Bronck farm still encompassed hundreds of acres and stretched from the escarpment that carries the Thruway to the Hudson River. This was huge considering the fact that most farms in Greene County at the time were 100 acres or less. Today much evidence of the farm still exists. For instance, visitors can visit the Dutch barn, built around the turn of the 19th century, with its massive threshing floor and storage areas on each side. Also open to the public is the thirteen-sided hay storage barn which once had a dairy barn attached. The interior of the barn features a number of horse drawn contrivances. A magnificent Victorian Horse Barn still stands on the property as well and is open to the public with exhibits on early Greene County industry.

To learn more about the Bronck House and farm and the 350th anniversary year, visit the Greene County Historical Society website, http//www.gchistory.org, and watch the pages of Hudson Valley Mercantile for monthly feature stories leading up to the kick-off of the Bronck House’s 350th Anniversary celebrations in May.

The New York Organ Donor Network (NYODN) celebrates this April with increased outreach efforts in hospitals, schools, and Motor Vehicle Agencies. While NYODN works year round to educate New York residents about the critical need for more organ and tissue donors, each April, these efforts are enhanced during National Donate Life Month. National Donate Life Month was instituted by Donate Life America and its partnering organizations in 2003 with the support of then Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson.

Across the United States, Donate Life Month features local, regional and national activities to help encourage Americans to register as organ, eye and tissue donors and to celebrate those that have saved lives through the gift of donation. Show your support by wearing the colors of the organization and celebrate National Blue & Green Day on Friday, April 19th.

In my experience speaking to people at public events, despite our efforts to raise awareness about being a donor, the number of people in need of transplants continues to rise. This month serves not only to honor the lives of those who have given and received, but it’s also an opportunity to educate the public about the lifesaving effects of donation and transplantation, and an opportunity to dispel the myths.

Nationally, more than 115,000 women, men, and children wait for a life-saving transplant—nearly 10,000 of them are New Yorkers (for specific numbers visit unos.org). For many, tragically, the gift will never be received. Nearly 6,000 people die a year – about 15 per day – awaiting the gift of life. Yet, every 2½ hours a person is added to NY State Donor Registry.

As of March 1, 2013, only 21% of eligible New Yorkers (age 18 and older) were enrolled in the New York State Donor Registry, compared to the national state average of 44.5%. New York State ranks near the bottom of the list on number of total enrollments.

Transplantation is one of the most remarkable success stories in the history of medicine. Transplantation gives hope to thousands of people with organ failure and provides many others with active and renewed lives. Out of tragedy, much good can be done for another human being waiting for a life-saving organ or tissue transplant. One person can save up to eight lives with organ donation. A tissue donor adds upwards of 50 additional lives – especially for burn victims.

New York residents can add their names to the organ donor registry when applying for or renewing their driver’s license at the Department of Motor Vehicles. There is a box to check off to say “yes” to being an organ donor. It will be filed with the NYS Department of Health and you will have a small red heart on your new license. This simple action while renewing your driver’s license could some day save someone’s life.

For me, my transplant is a “rebirth” to a healthy life. What better way to help one another than pledging to be an organ donor. I have been given 8 additional years to enjoy life and I thank my anonymous donor daily. My hope is that by bringing more awareness to the desperate need for organ donors through Donate Life Month, we can increase participation in the organ donor database and help the thousands more on the waiting list.
To learn more about NYDON Donate Life’s month-long activities, please visit www.SaveLivesNewYork.org.

About the Dutchess County NYODN Chapter:

Jon Nansen, Dutchess County Team Leader:

Jon’s energy toward the effort to enroll people in Dutchess County to be organ donors is endless. Heart issues run in his family, and his kidneys crashed in 2005 from high blood pressure. He had end stage renal failure, and needed to start dialysis.

After several years, his mentor Elaine Ling at Dutchess Dialysis Center in Poughkeepsie firmly told him that it was time to seriously consider transplantation, or face the loss of his kidney, or even his life.

Jon was on the waiting list for three years before getting that all-important phone call. “I was in dialysis when I heard my cell phone ringing. It was in my pocket, but I was all hooked up with hoses and tubes. When I answered the phone I heard, ‘You feel lucky today? Come on up, we have a match for you.’ This was in July, 2008.”

Jon strongly encourages people on dialysis to go through testing to be approved for their transplant. It can take seven months to be approved for the list, and that’s when the clock begins. “Get to a nephrologist, don’t mess with your kidneys,” Jon adds.

Jon is active throughout Dutchess County. He initiated DMV drives in Poughkeepsie and at Adams Fairacre Farms. He speaks at college health fairs, the Poughkeepsie Plaza, and Naturalization Ceremonies.

Barb Adams, co-owner of Adams Fairacre Farm:

The importance of organ, tissue and eye donation came to the forefront of awareness at Adams Fairacre Farms last year, when owner Pat Adams received a heart transplant. One year later, Adams is healthy and active as ever. He and his wife, Barb, as well as many others at Adams, are committed to helping spread the word about the need for donors.

Barb enrolled the Dutchess County group in the recent Campaign4Life, a friendly competition between the 10 counties in NYODN’s  district. The intent was to increase the number of designated organ, eye and tissue donors through registration. Surprisingly, the Dutchess County group won with more than 100 new registrations.

“We are proud of our efforts. The $1000 prize will be used to help our education campaign with the purchase of a flat screen TV showing interviews and updated information for the various health fairs we attend, especially the Dutchess County Fair,” Barb explained.

Barb also created a Facebook page for the local group, and continues to write a blog describing local activities and recent news about transplantation. To learn more, ‘like’ Donate Life of Dutchess County on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/DonateLifeOfDutchessCounty

Joanna Hess inherited Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) from her father, who inherited it from his father. She focuses much of her volunteer time educating people about organ donation. Her transplant occurred in February 2005, which she considers her “2nd birthday,” giving her the opportunity to help and support others in similar situations. She considers each day a blessing and encourages others to keep an open mind and an open heart.

This year winter was winter. It snowed on Christmas Eve. It snowed on Kristen’s birthday in March. It snowed and snowed and snowed. Instead of putting winter gear away in the attic, we went up to the attic and pulled out my Flexible Flyer sled from the 1970’s and found that it, despite being somewhat of a rickety death trap, still has a few years left in it. Twenty one months old, and Cooper finally had a winter.

Guess what? Turns out the kid is crazy about winter. Emphasis on the word “crazy.” He ate about a pound of snow a day. Kristen came up with the idea of filling a casserole dish with snow for him to play with indoors. Instead I watched in awe as he ate the whole thing with all the deliberate plotting and easy pacing of an Elks Club Treasurer at a pie eating contest.

We tried to make sure that, no matter how cold it was, Cooper always spent part of the day outdoors. This led to a lot of Saturday mornings in which Cooper and I were the only ones at the frigid, barren playground as he happily ran around hunting for ice and snow. He has an uncanny ability to, even on the driest days, find a freezing puddle of icy water somewhere that he can repeatedly shove his hands into. This is a problem because he refuses to put on gloves. I tried putting them on him once and he screamed so loud I almost got arrested. We attempted to compromise with fingerless gloves, but let’s be honest with ourselves: fingerless gloves are useless. It’s the fingers that get cold in the winter. You never hear anyone complaining that their palms are cold.

Invariably, after about twenty minutes of barehanded snow slapping and ice punching, Cooper would run up to me crying and screaming. He would hold out his pink, swollen hands and say “OW OW OW!” Often, he would still be holding snow. “Your hands hurt because of the snow,” I’d say. “If you put the snow down, your hands won’t hurt anymore.” Then I would nod my head in a sagely dad-ish sort of way and wait for my progeny to absorb this latest nugget of hard earned wisdom. Cold things are cold! I have so much to pass on to the next generation.

Have you ever tried to reason with a toddler? It doesn’t work. Toddlers think that cats want to have their tail pulled and that “hang glider” is an acceptable career choice. Instead of putting the snow down, Cooper stared at me like I was an idiot. “Put the snow down?” his expression seemed to say. “But then I won’t be holding snow. So make it so that I can hold the snow and not get cold but I refuse to wear gloves or a hat and quite frankly you’re lucky I let you even put this coat on me.”

It was always at this point that the wisdom of the ages would fail me. Cooper was miserable but having the time of his life and wanted it to stop and go on forever. Do I take the snow away, making him upset? Do I take him home, making him upset? Do I let him keep splashing in ice cold puddles with his bare hands, making him upset? Do I just stand there with a stupid look on my face, making him upset? Every week we run into this problem and every week I never have an answer.

So I will not complain about winter, but I am glad to see it go. I am in desperate need of long walks after dinner wearing a light jacket and my old Mets cap. I am ready for our herb garden to flourish once again so that I can stop spending five dollars a week on sickly damp chives and crumbling rosemary. And I no longer want to stand helplessly by as Cooper continues crying and screaming and laughing with tears running down his frostbite bloomed cheeks, jamming tiny pink fingers into snowbank after snowbank after snowbank, unable to ever get enough.

Brian PJ and Kristen Cronin live in Beacon with their three cats, and their son Cooper James Cronin. View more of their photos at www.flickr.com/teammoonshine and Instagram.com/kristencronin.

Some of the designs that will be on display at the Poughkeepsie show this year include: Rosetta Patio with Firepit featuring Adams’ new line Rosetta Hardscapes, which offers the look and feel of nature; a Stone River Mosaic designed and created by Adams Landscaping using Connecticut stone, crushed bluestone, barn red stone and small river rounds with a Unilock Brussels dimensional border; Rosetta Pond and Waterfall featuring the Rosetta Outcropping Collection Pond Kit and bordered with Rosetta Belvederre; Cedar gazebo and foot bridge designed and custom-built by Adams Landscaping; Unilock Fireplace and Patio with a Unilock Elements Tuscany fireplace – a pre-built modular, fully functioning wood- or gas-buring fireplace – and Unilock Beacon Hill flagstone for the patio and Unilock Brussels Dimensional bluestone caps on the walls and pillars. Be sure to attend the family-friendly Garden Shows at all four Adams’ locations and get a taste of Spring!