Hudson Valley Gospel Festival thrives in year five

The Hudson Valley Gospel Festival featured groups from across the region, including the Ulster County Mass Choir directed by Reverend Dennis Washington.

Provided

Hudson Valley Gospel Festival thrives in year five

Arts Mid-Hudson presented the 5th annual Hudson Valley Gospel Festival Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church United Church of Christ, 269 Mill Street in Poughkeepsie.

The First Congregational United Church of Christ was founded in 1837 as an anti-slavery church. It is a compassionate community with vibrant worship, and a deep-rooted commitment to social justice.

Audiences were treated to all varieties of gospel music. There was a procession into the church, a praise dance team who will lead the audience in a participatory dance, and an opportunity for the audience to sing along.

The evening featured the Hudson Valley Gospel Festival Choir directed by Dinesa Hansen and the Hudson Lily of the Valley Praise Dance Team led by Linda Molina. The mistress of ceremonies for the evening was Reverend Evelyn Clarke of New Progressive Baptist Church in Kingston.

Also performing wasthe Southern Dutchess Coalition Mass Choir, which was established in 1990 in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Reverend Barbara Baker, of Springfield Baptist Church in Beacon, New York. Sharlene Stout is the choir director.

In addition, The Ulster County Mass Choir, a 25-member community choir, directed by Reverend Dennis Washington specializing in Gospel music, performed. Established in 1999, the choir started as the MLK Community Outreach Choir to commemorate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dennis Washington, who has directed the choir for 15 years, and shares these duties with Elder Albert Cook.

Folk Arts Program Manager Elinor Levy explained the festival’s origins.

“The Hudson Valley Gospel Festival began in 2020 as a joint project of the community, Dutchess Tourism and Arts Mid-Hudson. For the last four years, it has been a community project and Arts Mid-Hudson project. For many years in the 1980’s to the early 2000’s there was an annual gospel concert in December,” Levy stated. “The festival is produced by a committee of community members and myself with support of the Arts Mid-Hudson management and staff. Ray Watkins heads up the committee.”

Arts Mid-Hudson is a nonprofit arts service organization serving the Mid-Hudson region. Since 1964 their initiatives have engaged and promoted the arts benefiting artists, arts organizations, and communities. It also provides vision and leadership to support diverse arts in the Mid-Hudson region.

In addition, Arts Mid-Hudson researches the arts and traditions of the region’s rich cultural, ethnic, religious, and occupational heritages. Through educational and public programs like Kakizome and La Guelaguetza, the Folk Arts Program works with communities to share traditions. The program is open to ideas and suggestions about how to assist in celebrating the heritage of different communities residing in the Hudson Valley.

For more information about Arts Mid-Hudson, find Arts Mid-Hudson on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, or sign up for the weekly E-newsletter at www.artsmidhudson.org, or call (845) 454-3222.

Latest News

East Canaan's CowPots to face the 'Sharks'

Amanda Freund of East Canaan will appear on the television show "Shark Tank" on April 4 to pitch CowPots.

Photo by Ruth Epstein

CANAAN — Fans of the television show “Shark Tank,” stay tuned. On Friday, April 4, Amanda Freund of East Canaan will be facing the panel, imploring members to invest in her unique product: cow poop.

Freund and her father Matthew Freund produce and market CowPots, which are made from the abundance of manure found on their dairy farm. Matthew Freund, realizing cows were producing more manure — 100 pounds per cow per day — than was needed for fertilizing fields for crops, came up with the concept of the pots. Years of trial-and-error experimentation finally resulted in success. In 2006 he began selling the biodegradable pots using 100% composted manure to local stores. Now the pots can be found in outlets across the country, as well as internationally.

Keep ReadingShow less
Hotchkiss lacrosse ices Kingswood Oxford 19-0

LAKEVILLE — The Hotchkiss School opened the girls varsity lacrosse season with a big win in the snow against Kingswood Oxford School.

The Bearcats won 19-0 in a decisive performance March 26. Twelve different players scored for Hotchkiss, led by Coco Sheronas with four goals.

Keep ReadingShow less
HVRHS releases second quarter honor roll

FALLS VILLAGE — Principal Ian Strever announces the second quarter marking period Honor Roll at Housatonic Valley Regional High School for the 2024-2025 school year.

Highest Honor Roll

Grade 9: Parker Beach (Cornwall), Mia Belter (Salisbury), Lucas Bryant (Cornwall), Addison Green (Kent), Eliana Lang (Salisbury), Alison McCarron (Kent), Katherine Money (Kent), Mira Norbet (Sharon), Abigail Perotti (North Canaan), Karmela Quinion (North Canaan), Owen Schnepf (Wassaic), Federico Vargas Tobon (Salisbury), Emery Wisell (Kent).

Keep ReadingShow less
Thomas Ditto

ANCRAMDALE — Thomas Ditto of Ancramdale, born Thomas David DeWitt Aug. 11, 1944 in New York City changing his surname to Ditto at marriage, passed peacefully on Pi Day, March 14, 2025. He was a husband, father, artist, scientist, Shakespeare scholar, visionary, inventor, actor, mime, filmmaker, clown, teacher, lecturer, colleague, and friend. Recipient of numerous grants, awards and honors in both the arts and sciences, a Guggenheim and NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts fellow, he was a creative genius beyond his time. In addition to authoring scores of papers, he held several patents and invented the first motion capture system and the Ditto-scope, a radically new kind of telescope. He was a pioneer in computer generated video, film, and performance.

When not hard at work, he was always there to help when needed and he knew how to bring smiles to faces. He loved his family and pets and was supportive of his wife’s cat rescue work.

Keep ReadingShow less