old croton aqueduct aquefest this weekend

Between stops at the Greenburgh garage sale this Saturday (at Greenburgh Town Hall) you should take your family to the 6th annual Aquefest—celebrating the Old Croton Aqueduct. I have attended this event annually. It’s a lot of fun—and the aqueduct path is stunning. Great hiking or cycling (although the path is dirt). The phone number of the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct is 693 0529. Their website is www.aqueduct.org. Tom Chapin will be at the event Sunday! Listing of activities on their website. Many Greenburgh residents are not aware of this jewel –which is probably less than 15 minutes away from your home.
See you this weekend. A copy of the article from Tarrytown Patch follows.
PAUL FEINER

By Lizzie Hedrick | Email the author | October 5, 2010 Tarrytown Patch

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http://www.aqueduct.org/Credit courtesy photo
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Are you a juggler, painter, sculptor, fiddler, interpretive dancer, acrobat or even just someone who loves to walk? If so, Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct—a local organization dedicated to maintaining the aqueduct trail—invites you to come out this weekend and celebrate "Aquefest."
"Whatever it is you do—whether it's creating art, playing music or anything else, do it this weekend on the aqueduct," said event organizer Eileen Charles. This weekend's event will mark the sixth annual Aquefest, and Charles hopes the celebration will begin to take on a life of its own in the future.
"My dream is to have a weekend in which everyone knows to come out," she said. "We wouldn't have to hire bands and performers; they would just show up."
This year's Aquefest activities have been divided between municipalities so that Yonkers, Tarrytown, Croton and Ossining will host performers on Saturday and Hastings, Dobbs Ferry and Irvington will provide the entertainment on Sunday.
Charles has worked to make the weekend's activities and performances cater to both kids' and adults' tastes. On Sunday, Charles said Hastings would be more "kid-centric," featuring children's band "Annie and the Wonderband," and shows by a puppeteer.
At noon in Dobbs Ferry, three-time Grammy Award winner Tom Chapin will play some of his best-known music at the Keeper's House on Walnut Street.
Irvington's celebration will take on an Irish theme, commemorating the predominantly Irish workforce that constructed the original aqueduct in the 1840's. There will be Irish music and dancing.
The further north you go, Charles said, "the mellower the activities become."
In Tarytown, the organizers invite locals to help decorate the Aqueduct arch, a wood arbor, with: paint, glass tiles and yarn and organic cotton cloth donated by Flying Fingers Yarn Shop and Green Babies.
"By the end of the day the arch will look and feel like water is rushing through it, as the wind blows the attached green, yellow and blue yarn and fabric," Charles said.
Mucical performances in Tarrytown include Brother Flower from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., children's music by Zev from 1 to 2 p.m. and Hannah Becker, an acoustic guitarist and Sleepy Hollow High School senior, from 2 to 3 p.m.
Up in Croton and Ossining the activities are more historical and artistic than carnivalesque.
"People don't realize they're in the presence of history when they walk, run or cycle along the aqueduct trail," Charles said. In Ossining,visitors can actually descend into the tunnel and see the conduit that once supplied water to Westchester and New York City.
Finally, in Croton visitors will encounter sculptures made from all-natural materials as they stroll along the path.
Aquefest is free, but there will be membership tables located near the trail in all the villages involved. "We strongly encourage everyone to donate something, even if it's very little," Charles said.
Charles said she and her husband joined The Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct in the '90s because of their passion for its beauty and accessibility, and its unique way of connecting communities.
"The aqueduct is the lifeline of these villages," she said.
Tarrytown's Aquefest
Tarrytown's Aquefest events are centered around Neperan Park and will take place on Saturday, October 9. All day, you can help adorn a wood arbor with paint, glass tiles and yarn and organic cotton cloth donated by Flying Fingers Yarn Shop and Green Babies. There will be plenty of music and, as always, and open trail to walk or bike.
Musical line up
• 11-1 Brother Flower with special guest Mary Kohrherr, Listening to them tear into their songs, you'd think they were covering The Band or Hank Williams. Their version of The Who's Baba O Reilly armed with only a mandola, guitar and snare drum, sounds huge, Irish, and would surely make Pete proud. And the tender beauty with their version of Hobo's Lullaby just makes you sigh.
• 1-2 Music by Zev: Zev's original music for children draws from many musical cultures and traditions to create songs about everyday childhood: family, fantasy, silliness and whimsy.
• 2-3 Hannah Becker: This Tarrytown HS senior will soothe your soul with her lovely voice and acoustic guitar playing.