Expect excitement at Harlem Valley Expo

AMENIA — Residents and businesses throughout the Harlem Valley area will be at Silo Ridge Country Club Sunday for the Harlem Valley Expo.

The event, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., will include booths from local businesses, area services, tourist sites, crafts, food and raffles.

Organizer Therese Stanford said the event is for the whole family.

"I think that, after such a long winter, after people have felt very isolated, this will enable local residents and local business people to gather together," Stanford said. "This will help people network with local restaurants and businesses. Anyone coming to this event will get a nice flavor of the Harlem Valley."

The event was previously held as a technology fair for several years, but Stanford said the focus of the fair has changed to broaden the scope.

The event will include more than 40 businesses, non-profits and entertainers from the area, including: The Bank of Millbrook, Freshtown of Dutchess County, Salisbury Bank & Trust Company, Dutchess Country Realty, Portasoft Water Conditioning, Taylor Oil & Propane, Superior Wireless, Superior Telephone, Jack’s Auto Service, Rooney Design, The Pines, Tastefully Simple, Jiffy Promos, Arnoff Moving and Storage, Drug World, Cascade Spirit Shoppe, the Tri-State Chamber, Dover Chamber of Commerce and the North East Community Center.

Q103 FM will broadcast live.

Garret Corcoran, president of the Harlem Valley Chamber of Commerce, one of the organizers of the event, wrote via e-mail that the expo will be a great opportunity for the local community.

"We’re very pleased to be able to organize this event for the business community and the residents in eastern Dutchess County," Corcoran wrote by e-mail. "Small businesses are the backbone of our community and in order to support them, we have to understand the services that they offer.  This expo is a great opportunity for business owners to meet one another and to meet new customers and see old faces."

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, call Therese Stanford at 845-677-5321 or Jeanne Rebillard at 845-373-7456.