Alternative Activities for Saturday

In the Register-Star this morning, John Mason called it "Hudson's most famous parade." The staff in the ER at Columbia Memorial call it their busiest Saturday of the year. Flag Day fast approaches, and for those who aren't particularly fond of the three hour long parade or a night on the midway, Gossips offers some alternatives.

On Saturday afternoon, the Dr. Oliver Bronson House provides a tranquil alternative to the crowds lining the streets of Hudson for the Flag Day parade. The house will be open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Saturday. An exhibit created by the Prison Public Memory Project (the house was used for years as the residence of the superintendent of the Girls' Training School) will be on display, and guided tours of the house will be offered at 1 and 3 p.m. At 2:30, Donna Lewin, deputy superintendent of the Hudson Correctional Facility, on whose grounds the Dr. Oliver Bronson House is located, will be on hand to dedicate the plaque identifying the house and 33 acres of the surrounding grounds as a National Historic Landmark. Enter the grounds from Worth Avenue, beside the gatehouse.

Saturday is also the opening of the exhibition Art Meets Art: Perspectives On and Beyond Olana, being displayed at two locations: the Coachman's House Gallery at Olana and the Hudson Opera House. Richard Roth, curator of the exhibition, invited contemporary artists to respond to Olana's art, architecture, landscape, and views. An example of the work created is the photograph by Lynn Davis reproduced here. The opening reception at Olana is from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The opening reception at the Hudson Opera House is from 6 to 8 p.m.

At 6 p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church, ClaverackLanding presents Beauty Intolerable--songs, based on the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay with music by Sheila Silver, performed by Lauren Flanigan, soprano; Deanne Meek, mezzo-soprano; Risa Renae Harman, lyric soprano; Kelly Horsted and Christopher Cooley, pianists. In addition, actress Tyne Daly will recite poems by Millay. Visit the ClaverackLanding website for tickets.

From 8 p.m. until midnight, Basilica Hudson--an in-your-face (literally) vantage point for watching the Flag Day fireworks--presents a New Wave Dance Party with guest DJs Shannon F, from the band Light Asylum, and Becka Diamond, music writer for 13:13. There's a $10 admission charge which goes to planting trees and upgrading the cinema space at the Basilica. Click here to buy tickets in advance.