New Program Offers Volunteers a Chance to Learn Organic Farming

The Sisters of Charity of New York are launching a new volunteer opportunity at their Sisters Hill Farm in central Dutchess County, NY. For the first time, they are offering a volunteer week at their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) site in Stanfordville, NY, for those interested in learning about organic farming from the ground up (so to speak).

The volunteer week runs from Saturday, July 24 through Saturday, July 31. Room and board (meals) are provided. A day trip to New York City will be part of the experience. Volunteers are responsible for any travel expenses getting to and from the farm.

After working side-by-side with farmer Dave Hambleton and his two interns – planting, weeding and harvesting – volunteers will come away with a greater appreciation for the sacredness of the earth and learn about the values that may shape our planet’s future. In an average year, these three harvest 60,000 pounds of produce from five acres.

Volunteer qualifications
Men and women over the age of 18 are eligible to apply for this weeklong opportunity. No previous experience is necessary, although a strong interest in/appreciation for organic farming is expected. Candidates should be in good physical condition, able to bend, kneel, lift and work outside in the fields in the heat of a July day. They must be self-motivated, reliable and adaptable, and be ready, willing and able to get up early and get their hands dirty.

Volunteers will live on the farm and take meals with two nuns who are Earth Connections Consultants, including Sr. Mary Ann Garisto, SC, the Director of Ecological / Global Concerns for Sisters of Charity of New York, and the farm’s founder (in photo).

About the farm
Sisters Hill Farm is just one of the Congregation’s ecological ministries. The farm’s mission is "to grow healthy food which nurtures bodies, spirits, communities and the earth." It provides its 200 shareholders with nutritious, chemical-free, organic food at a reasonable cost between late May and early November.

In an average year, the farm grows more than 100 varieties of some 50 organic vegetables (no fruit), all chosen because of their superior taste and nutritional health. Its only “livestock” is a small flock of chickens. It is entering its 12th year of operation.

One of the farm's main goals is to share a portion of each week’s harvest with those in need in the local community, both directly to families and to soup kitchens and food pantries.

For more information
Contact Sr. Mary Katherine Hamm, SC, the Director of Volunteer Services for the Sisters of Charity of New York.

- Call: 718.549.9200 x 264
- email: mkhamm@scny.org
- write: Sisters of Charity Center / 6301 Riverdale Ave. / Bronx, NY 10471-1093

You can learn more about the farm and the Sisters at www.scny.org.

Spring Clean Your Spirit

By Dr. Norman Vincent Peale

Spring is a time for renewal. Use these steps to be refresh your spirit and be the person you were meant to be.

1. To live in this world you have to be strong. Start developing inner strength in mind and spirit by affirming the great fact that God built strength into your nature.

2. Practice praying during the day. Talk to God as you drive your car, as you make dinner. Wherever you are - it's always the perfect time for prayer. Imagine the Lord is there for you. He is!

3. No matter what your situation is, be hopeful! Raise your sights and see the possibilities—always see them, for they're always there.

4. Your thoughts and words have a strong impact on how you feel. Focus on thinking and speaking positively, even when you feel down.

5. Release your fear to God. He will give you faith, and faith is always stronger than fear.

6. Don't limit your future with small thinking. Pray big, believe big, think big.

7. Remember: what you think you will become—good or bad, weak or strong, defeated or victorious, so picture yourself strong, happy and successful.

8. Be thankful. Let your prayers consist of all the wonderful things that have happened to you. Name them, thank God for them and make that your whole prayer. You will soon find that these prayers of thanksgiving grow longer and longer, and you will have more and more things for which to thank God.

9. Rest in the fact that God is watching over you and protecting you. Praise him for helping you grow and bloom.

10. Be patient. Change doesn't happen overnight, but in time, with faith, you'll feel refreshed and ready for any challenges or opportunities that come your way.


This article appeared in Guideposts magazine.

Mr. & Mrs. Fitch

I was so sleepy as I settled in for this world premiere of Douglas Carter Beane's Mr. & Mrs. Fitch that I wondered how I’d make it through the next two hours. Not to worry. I perked up the moment John Lithgow and Jennifer Ehle entered, laughing as their stumble into their colorful Manhattan loft in the wee hours of the morning after a night on the town. And I stayed engaged as their glitzy world unfold in this cocktail of a show, directed by Scott Ellis at Second Stage Theatre.

Tony winners Lithgow and Ehle play the title characters, a gossip columnist and his wife chronicling New York’s theatre luminaries and other members of the glitteratti. This particular night, however, their shiny world is threatened when their column comes up short. On deadline, having exhausted their notes for tantalizing details, they resort to quoting a press release, written in anticipation of the party they’ve just covered, that a famous actress was there, living it up and looking great. They hadn’t seen her, but it was crowded and so they go with what they’ve been fed by the publicist.

But just after Mr. Fitch presses the send button to file his column, he notices an online announcement that the actress had died earlier that day. Needless to say, Mr. Fitch’s editor is irate, and tells him to fill out the piece with another item ASAP.

What to do? Mrs. Fitch has an idea. Create a mysterious character new to the Manhattan party world, and make it sound as if he’s fast on his way to becoming the latest It guest on the social scene. Anything goes as they make up this divine young man, pictured in lush detail and christened Jamie Glenn.

When this imaginary character becomes so intriguing to their readers that he assumes a life of his own, however, their little deception threatens to bring them down.

If this play were a 1930s or 40s movie, which it resembles, it would be labeled “a sophisticated comedy.” It’s a refreshing change from most contemporary works that take their cue from TV sitcoms, with that inane one-liner humor made for laugh tracks or studio audiences primed to chuckle at the pause after each insipid joke.

Mr. & Mrs. Fitch, the play, nicely reflects the world of Cole Porter, whose song of the same name is about a poor couple who strike oil, become the toast of society, only to be shunned quickly when they lose their fortune in the stock market crash (the first one, that is, in 1929). I had a Bobby Short recording of this delicious little song, and was delighted when Lithgow sat down at the couple’s grand piano to play and sing it, with Ehle lounging atop, joining in occasionally.

It’s a perfect touch for a couple who seem always ready to hop into a gown and tux at a moment’s notice, as they do when they receive, in response to their Jamie Glenn item, a last minute invitation to “the semiannual ass-kisser’s ball.”

Jeff Mahshie’s costumes are splendid. As are Allen Moyer’s set, Kenneth Posner’s lighting and Lewis Finn’s original music, all of which contribute to the twinkling world of Mr. & Mrs. Fitch. It’s delovely!

Mr. & Mrs. Fitch continues at Second Stage Theatre, 305 W. 43rd St, through April 4. Call (212) 246-4422 for tickets or visit 2ST.com for more details.

PATTI LuPONE Will HOST OUR 55TH ANNUAL DRAMA DESK AWARDS CEREMONY

Patti LuPone, winner of three Drama Desk Awards as Outstanding Actress in A Musical for her performances in Evita (1980), Anything Goes (1988) and Gypsy (2008), will host this year’s 55th annual Drama Desk Awards ceremony on Sunday, May 23 from the stage of the LaGuardia Concert Hall at Lincoln Center.

The Nominations Ceremony will take place at a news conference at the New York Friars Club, 57 E. 55th St., on Monday, May 3 at 9:30 a.m. A continental breakfast will be served at 8:45 a.m. Once those nominations are announced, it’s as if a starter pistol has gone off for all of us voters. We pounce on the phone and start calling the press agents, trying to fit in the nominated shows we haven’t seen yet among all the shows opening during the craziness of awards season.

The Drama Desk, an organization of theater critics, writers and editors that honors excellence in all areas of New York theatre, including Broadway, Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway and not-for-profit theater, was organized in 1949. The organization presented its first awards in 1955.

An Irish blessing

Enjoy this beautiful video.

“Just think, you’re not here by chance, but by God’s choosing. His hand formed you and made you the person you are. He compares you to no one else -- you’re one of a kind. You lack nothing that His grace can’t give you. He has allowed you to be here at this time in history to fulfill His special purpose for this generation.”
-- Roy Lessin