Sunset Reading and Farmland Cycling Event: Great Ways to Experience Valley's Inspiring Beauty

HUDSON VALLEY—During September Scenic Hudson offers two very different ways to experience nature and be inspired by the Hudson Valley's world-class beauty. For more details and to RSVP for these events—and to learn about other ways to have fun in Scenic Hudson parks up and down the Hudson River—visit www.scenichudson.org/events or follow us on Facebook, www.facebook.com/scenichudson.

Saturday, Sept. 10 4:30 – 7 p.m.

Sunset Reading at Poets' Walk Park—Scenic Hudson's Poets' Walk Park, Red Hook, Dutchess County

Stroll in spirit with Washington Irving, who found inspiration ambling the paths that wind through the sunlit meadows and quiet woodlands at Poets' Walk, now a 120-acre park created by Scenic Hudson. After walking the park's trails, gather at a rustic cedar pavilion to enjoy refreshments while listening to poets and other artists read and perform their works as the sun sets behind the Catskill Mountains and paints the Hudson in golden hues. The readers will be Edie Meidav, Kevin Salem, Brielle Korn and Amii LeGendre. There is no charge for the event.

Saturday, Sept. 24 9 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Farmland Cycling Tour—begins and ends at Scenic Hudson's Poets' Walk Park, Red Hook, Dutchess County

Beginning at Poets' Walk Park, pedal through the beautiful, rolling countryside of Dutchess and Columbia counties. Besides catching occasional glimpses of the Hudson River, riders will pass working farms Scenic Hudson has helped preserve and farm stands offering fresh produce. Following the event there will be food by Terrapin Catering of Rhinebeck as well as live music and family-friendly activities to celebrate the season and its bounty. Don't want to cycle, just come for the entertainment and fun in the park.

Mapped routes will be provided for rides of 7, 15, 30 and 50 miles. Staff from Wheel and Heel bike shop in Wappingers Falls will inspect bikes and give advice to riders who seek it. Suggested donation of $20, payable day of the event, will help Scenic Hudson protect more working farms. Those under age 16 are free. Riders under age 18 must be accompanied by an adult.

Scenic Hudson works to protect and restore the Hudson River and its majestic landscape as an irreplaceable national treasure and a vital resource for residents and visitors. A crusader for the valley since 1963, we are credited with saving fabled Storm King Mountain from a destructive industrial project and launching the modern grass-roots environmental movement. Today with more than 25,000 ardent supporters, we are the largest environmental group focused on the Hudson River Valley. Our team of experts combines land acquisition, support for agriculture, citizen-based advocacy and sophisticated planning tools to create environmentally healthy communities, champion smart economic growth, open up riverfronts to the public and preserve the valley's inspiring beauty and natural resources. To date Scenic Hudson has created or enhanced more than 50 parks, preserves and historic sites up and down the Hudson River and conserved more than 30,000 acres.

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