June 6, 2008
by Penny Vane
New Castle residents will welcome summer for the 71st year running with fun and games at the annual Strawberry Festival this Saturday, June 7, in downtown Chappaqua. A favorite town tradition featuring homespun games, crafts, baked goods, grill fare, live music, and of course, buckets of its namesake berry, the festival heralds the start of the new summer season with a roster of fun activities for all ages.
As always, the Strawberry Festival will take place on the Great Lawn of the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, adjacent to the Robert E. Bell Middle School on Greeley Avenue. There is no general admission fee. Most games and rides charge ticket prices of two to four tickets. Tickets are 50¢ each. Food is priced a la carte.
Activities for the whole family
• “Attic Treasures:” a tag sale jam-packed with curios, collectibles, not to mention, bargains!
• Fun-and-games for children of all ages — perpetual favorites like the
air castle, speed ball pitch and football toss, plus new attractions including an
obstacle course and a pitch burst along with classic entertainments like face
painting and alien can smash, all earning plenty of prizes for participants.
• Craft booths showcase the work of area artists and offer one-of-a-kind,
hand-crafted fashions, jewelry, woodwork and more, including the ceramic work of adult artisans of the New Castle Art Center, who donate their proceeds to the Northern Westchester Women’s Shelter.
• Come hungry to enjoy an abundance of home-baked goods, hot dogs and burgers, popcorn, cotton candy and more … not the least of which are bowlfuls of fresh
strawberries piled high on fresh-baked strawberry shortcake with mounds of fresh whipped cream and ice cream, of course!
Proceeds support local charities
Lest you feel guilty about indulging in so much fun, rest assured that Westchester’s longest continually-running Strawberry Festival is not just a charming rural tradition; it is also an important charitable fundraising activity.
The festival is sponsored by the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, and proceeds from the event help to fund the church’s many charitable programs and activities. These include financial and volunteer support for such worthy causes as Westchester’s A-Homes, Midnight Run, Open Door Family Medical Centers, Interfaith Food Pantry, the Children’s Center at Bedford Women’s Correctional Facility and the Women’s Shelter And that’s just the tip of the iceberg for this active congregation of little more than a hundred families, whose services to our own New Castle community include the pumpkin patch, the winter skating rink and the community yard sale, as well as an abundance of musical concerts and, of course, the Strawberry Festival.
Welcome the return of the church bells!
Longtime New Castle residents who have been lamenting the loss of St. Mary’s renowned church bells can now celebrate their impending return. Thanks to the generosity of friends and neighbors and the success of a capital campaign among its members, the church has just completed substantial restoration work to its bells and organ as well as overdue structural repairs to the more mundane necessities such as roofing, heating and so on. Although the church is planning a major inaugural musical event in the fall to properly showcase both of these impeccable instruments, the newly restored bells are expected to ring for the first time in several years during tomorrow’s Strawberry Festival.
Food, fun . . . and history
Nestled in historic Greeley Grove (renowned to local arborists), the landmark church and its surrounding grounds provide a bucolic setting for this community event. The church, built as a private family chapel in memory of the granddaughter of Horace Greeley, can be toured on request. History buffs will be interested to know that the church was designed after a sister parish in Monken Hadley, England, and has a stained glass window from that church, circa 1600.
And on a more personal historic note, I knew I was “coming home” when I moved to Chappaqua 13 years ago. When the realtor was showing me around town, I noticed the little church on the hill next to the school my son would attend, and the memories came back. I had been baptized at St. Mary’s sister church in England. My younger sister, though born after the family emigrated to Canada, was baptized here at the sister church in Chappaqua. My father had learned of the little church on the hill on business trips to headquarters of the company for which he served as Canadian marketing director, Reader’s Digest. Destiny is sometimes serendipitous.
Penny Vane left life in the city after 9/11 and now runs a virtual ad agency from the barn adjacent to her home. She currently serves on the vestry of The Church of St. Mary the Virgin.
Copyright 2008 NewCastleNOW.org