Tradition has it that a giant bonfire was lit at Philipse Manor as a signal to the good burghers of New Amsterdam that goods were ready to be picked up and sold.
Light the fire, good burghers of the River Towns! Christ Church Tarrytown is having its annual Fall Fair this October 17th from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Better yet, you can beat the sharpies from Gotham by attending Preview Night on Friday, October 16th, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Rip Van Winkle, waking up from his hundred year nap, would instantly recognize the Christ Church Fall Fair as no different than when he nodded off. Baked goods, boutique, furniture, toys and games for the children, music, white elephants, designer socks, charcoal portraits and face painting, silent auction with vintage comic books, an Indian dinner for eight, a restored Folk Harmony guitar, a brand-new Tiffany card case and fur coats, International café, fire engine, pumpkins – the whole kit and caboodle!
Commemorating Henry Hudson’s 400th anniversary of sailing up the Hudson, as well as the supremacy of Dutch sea power, this year’s Fall Fair brings choice items from the Orient to the Occident. The Metropolitan Japanese Ministry joins Christ Church in offering various objets d’art and the San Marcos Mission of Christ Church serves up delicious Central and South American delicacies at the International Café, as well as sponsoring a huge clothing sale.
The New York Taiko Aiko Kai, a Taiko drum ensemble, will provide the highlight of Preview Night on October 16th at 7:30p.m. This is a free performance with refreshments to be enjoyed as you view the Silent Auction and engage in early holiday shopping at the Boutique.
Proceeds from this year’s fair continue the world outreach of Christ Church with 30% of the proceeds going to the Pendill Fund, an organization to assist Russian orphanages. The Metropolitan Japanese Ministry is also donating a portion of its proceeds to Japan’s oldest school for the mentally disadvantaged and a school for Filipino children in Nagoya, Japan.
As old Rip would say, it’s worth waking up for and, you know, the prices aren’t so different from a hundred years ago, either.
