Campaign News & Events

East Fishkill Community Library
Launches $650,000 Capital Campaign

The East Fishkill Community Library will kick off its $650,000 capital campaign "Come Grow With Us" Wednesday, June 19 at 4:00 pm at the library. The funds will contribute to the library's $1.1 million expansion and renovation project that adds 5,000 square feet and renovates the 1989 structure.

"We are counting on our patrons to help 'grow' our library to keep pace with the amazing growth in our community," says Christine M. Ferrero, campaign chair. "It is not just an invaluable resource for people of all ages, but it has become the cultural and social hub of East Fishkill."

Community leaders have been contacted for major donations in advance of the public kickoff this week, and the results of this fundraising will be announced at Wednesday's event, with four major gifts to be acknowledged individually.

The public campaign will begin with a mailing to nearly 5,000 patrons in East Fishkill, Hopewell Junction, Stormville, Lomala, Fishkill Plains, Wiccopee, and Hillside Lake.

Donors can give contributions to the campaign in two ways. Either three-year pledges or one-time gifts are requested to help meet the goal. Named gift opportunities allow sponsorship of rooms such as the reading rotunda, the children's area, and the director's office as well as outdoors spaces like The Mary Alley Garden, the courtyard patio, or the book drop. This week the library will add a campaign page to its website, www.eastfishkilllibrary.org, to offer pledge information and to acknowledge donations.

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East Fishkill Library Will Make Magic
Free Show sponsored by Capital Campaign Committee

On Wednesday, August 21 at 6:30 pm, two magicians will make magic at the East Fishkill Community Library. The show, sponsored by the library's capital campaign committee is free and open to the public.

The featured magicians include Samuel K. Patton and Marty "Magic" Steinberg, both members of the Society of American Magicians local chapter #35.

"We want to keep the growing going," says Christine M. Ferraro, chair of the capital campaign whose theme is Come Grow With Us, "and we are grateful to Sam and Marty for helping us make magic." The amount raised to date is over $345,000.

Sam "Professor Wizard" Patton's particular interests are the history of magic and magicians and platform, chemical, and close-up magic. He was a regular performer for the East Fishkill Kiwanis variety shows in the 1970's; he performed at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie, and with The County Players theater in Wappingers Falls for S.A.M. fund raisers. He has also appeared on Poughkeepsie Cable TV and served as a judge during a one-day convention for magicians sponsored by S.A.M. Assembly 35. He is a past president of the Society of American Magicians Assembly #35 and is an Associate Member of the Magic Circle, London.

The campaign committee, chaired by Ferrero, includes Mary Belle Duvivier, Sonia Long, Douglas McHoul, Barbara Manning, Patrick Moore, Samuel Patton, Stephanie Patton, Judith Smith, Tom Tierney, and Barbara Zawadzinsky. Others wishing to volunteer are encouraged to contact the library at (845) 221-2412. The library is located at 348 Route 376, Hopewell Junction next to Town Hall.

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East Fishkill Rotary Makes Gift to Library
Campaign Goal Exceeds $400,000

Hopewell Junction - February 5, 2003 -- The Trustees of the East Fishkill Library are pleased to announce a generous gift in support of the library's "Come Grow With Us" capital campaign. The $5,000 gift was presented by the East Fishkill Rotary at a recent Rotary meeting.

" This outstanding gift pushes our campaign further toward our $650,000 goal. With the Rotary's help, we have exceeded $400,000 to date," says Chris Ferrero, Campaign Chair.

The campaign began in June 2002 to help fund the cost of the expansion and renovation that added five thousand square feet to the library including the larger children's section, the reading rotunda, more meeting space, additional parking and exterior lighting and the infrastructure for more services and programs. The total cost of the project was $1.1 million. Many interior and furnishing projects await completion, as well as landscaping and exterior lighting. The campaign is accepting gifts and pledges for 2003 and 2004.

" We always want to support a local organization, it's been part of our history. Plans are to include the library in our budget for the next two years," says George H. Harrison, Rotary President who has been a member since 1981. The East Fishkill Rotary supports
five food pantries, sponsors Girl and Boy Scout troops, and a Pop Warner team as well as international programs through Rotary
International. Volunteers raise funds by selling Entertainment Books, having a booth at the Stormville Flea Market, and, for the past ten years, raffling a Corvette.

East Fishkill Rotary was formed in February 1979 and includes 32 men and women from the Hopewell Junction and Fishkill regions, Wappinger's Falls, and Poughkeepsie. The club is looking forward to celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2005.

Other gifts that have contributed to the total are unique and heartfelt. A $300 gift from Girl Scout Troop 496, whose members are now seniors in high school, underscores their ties to the library. They have been meeting there since they were in kindergarten.

Five-year-old Clark Shogren asked his friends to bring a donation to him instead of birthday presents. " He had chosen the library as his charity of choice based on a list of organizations that benefit children locally rather than internationally," according to Mark and Karen Shogren, his parents. He donated $33 to the library.

For information about the campaign "Come Grow with Us" please call the library at (845) 221-9943 or check its website at www.eastfishkilllibrary.org.

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