History at Hudson Hall

Last Saturday, the third Classics on Hudson concert, To Lenny with Love, took place at Hudson Hall. A group of twenty from the Capital District Patriot Flight veterans association were part of the audience. Among that group of twenty was Ralph Avery, a 93-year-old decorated World War II veteran and Hudson native who is also the great grandson of Peter Avery, the architect who in 1855 designed Hudson's city hall, now known as Hudson Hall. 

Avery, a navy gunner aboard the LCT 571 in World War II, was in the first wave during the invasion of Normandy at Omaha Beach on D-Day, June 6, 1944. His most recent honor for his wartime service was the French Légion d'Honneur, one of the world's most prestigious decorations, established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802.

Photo: Lois Dysard

Saturday was Avery's first visit to the building his great grandfather designed since the restoration was completed. In the picture above, he appears with Sergeant Major Robert McDonald, a member of the U.S. Army Chorus, who was one of the performers in To Lenny with Love.
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