By Kingston Land Trust, on September 8th, 2010%
Greetings from Rebecca Martin, Executive Director of the Kingston Land Trust.
It is with great pleasure that I write to you from my new office in the Historic Uptown district of Kingston, NY. Here, I wish to invite you to participate in our upcoming benefit events as well as to share the Trust’s recent efforts and future plans.
The Kingston Land Trust’s mission as an urban trust is to help preserve, protect and program open space and historic sites in the City of Kingston and surrounding municipalities that include the Town of Kingston and Town of Ulster. It is also our aim to create stronger and healthier communities by connecting citizens to their out-of-door treasures that we are so fortunate to inherit and steward for generations to come. Please feel free to contact us if you have a piece of land that you wish to create a legacy project for or are searching for an easement to preserve the natural characteristics of your family property with a local Land Trust.
To help support our progress, join us on Wednesday, September 15th at 6:00pm as part of ‘Creek Week’ in Ulster County as we launch the first of our new series “The Kingston Land Trust’s Dinner and a Documentary” at MINT Lounge and Tapas Bar (one of our local hot spots) located at 1 West Strand in Kingston. Guests are encouraged to purchase dinner and drinks followed by a complimentary showing of ‘The Chances of the World Changing’. The film was donated to us by filmmaker and musician Eric Daniel Metzgar of Merigold Moving Pictures located in Brooklyn, NY. We’re turning part of the restaurant into a real art house film spot with freshly popped corn and organic butter. A fun date night and local event not to be missed.
The following week, the Kingston Land Trust’s first annual Harvest Moon Benefit Concert and Silent Auction sponsored by Chronogram Magazine and the Kingston Times will be held on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010 at the Falcon Arts in Marlboro, NY. Doors are at 6:00pm with showtime to begin at around 7:30pm. Scheduled to perform will be POOK (the Percussion Orchestra of Kingston) led by Evry Mann of the Center for Creative Education to lead off the evening followed by the Kingston High School Jazz Combo led by Director Mike Treat. Sitting in with the youth combo will be special guests and world renowned bassists Larry Grenadier (Brad Mehldau Trio/Pat Metheny/John Scofield) and Vicente Archer (Robert Glasper/Nicholas Payton). Being that Larry currently lives in Kingston and Vicente Archer was born and raised here (and also came up in the KHS Jazz Band) we will proudly share with the Hudson Valley some of our prized creative assets. In additional, it’s a real thrill to provide the youth performers of Kingston a professional experience such as this while making certain that our friends and supporters have a fun and relaxing evening (there is a great restaurant, bar and outdoor seating area that is quite wonderful). Special thanks to Tony Falco and everyone at Falcon Arts for providing us with this space to kick off our fall benefit event.
A suggested donation of $25 will be taken at the door (and one may give less or more if they so wish) with children 18 and younger free of charge.
Included below is a list of our recent works and programs. Would you care to be a sponsor? Please contact me to discuss the options.
If you are not able to be present at any of our events this fall, please consider making a donation of any size at this time. Click on this LINK or the button below to do so, and we thank you in advance.
Warm Regards,
Rebecca Martin
Executive Director
Kingston Land Trust
Kingston, NY.
845/877-LAND (5263)
rebecca@kingstonlandtrust.org
HISTORIC PROPERTIES AND PARCELS
Mt. Zion African-American Burial Ground – There are two African-American Burial Grounds within the city limits of the city of Kingston. The Mt. Zion African-American Burial Ground on South Wall Street (owned by the A.M.E Zion Church of Kingston) and a 17th century cemetery on Pine Street. The KLT recently hosted a tour of both sites with city of Kingston historian Edwin Ford. Currently, the KLT is working to create a Black History Committee to help steer a project that protects and preserves these hallowed grounds.
Yeomans Street Parcel - Located in the Ponckhockie section of Kingston, the Kingston Land Trust is currently working with the neighbors to create gardens and more on this beautiful sloped parcel, including the ultimate restoration of a tunnel entrance to the Newark Lime and Cement Manufacturing Company.
Esopus Creek Parcel – This lovely piece of land is located in Kingston’s historic Uptown area along the Esopus Creek. Current management plans are underway to create a kayak and canoe launch pad and park for the citizens and visitors alike.
PROGRAMS! PROGRAMS! PROGRAMS!
Kingston City Gardens – Created to help citizens plant their own home gardens in the ground, pots or a raised bed, the Kingston Land Trust has created this dynamic program that provides educational materials and hand-on support for seed storing, seedling planting, ‘planting out’ home gardens, garden maintaince and harvesting throughout the season. The program, originally named ‘The Kingston Victory Gardens Project’ was pivitol in helping to create a resurgance of garden interest that began with an organic garden placed at Kingston’s City Hall on Earth Day, 2009.
KLT Sponsored Gardens – The Kingston Land Trust is a proud partner in both the City Hall Victory Garden and the Everett Hodge Center Children’s Garden. Expect to see more interesting and useful garden demonstrations and activities on both sites in 2011.
Yoga In The Park! – The Kingston Land Trust is proud to be teaming up with Shakti Yoga of Woodstock and MAC Fitness to help create a free yoga series in the park beginning on May Day, 2011. More details to follow.
KLT’s Dinner and Documentary Series – Make it a date night at this fun evening of food, special drinks and complimentary documentary film that always focuses on important environmental issues.
Leave It On The Lawn, Kingston! - A citywide educational initiative in partnership with the City of Kingston to encourage residents to mulch their fall leaves and compost yard waste.
KINGSTON LAND TRUST – GRANT RELATED
Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities – Project Director Kristen Wilson of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County paved the way for important policy work in our community with a $360,000 grant over four years through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The Kingston Land Trust is proud to be a partner. Community educator and journalist Arthur Zaczkiewicz currently represents the Kingston Land Trust in this effort.
Columbia Foundation – Recently, the Kingston Land Trust was awarded a $3,000 grant from the Colombia Foundation in support of our Kingston City Gardens project. Count on more being accomplished in the way of home gardens for the families of Kingston in 2011.
KLT LOOKING AHEAD – 2011
City of Kingston Rail Trail – The Kingston Land Trust plans to partner up in support of the Rail Trail System in the city of Kingston in 2011.
Composting Programs – Ever hear the term ‘black gold’? The Kingston Land Trust is working to create a sidewalk composting demonstration in the city of Kingston starting in the spring/summer months of 2011.
KLT Promotes “The Child Safe Playing Fields Act of 2010” – A recent law banning the use of pesticides on playgrounds, school yards and athletic fields is about to get a helping hand in the city of Kingston. The Kingston Land Trust is working to create a citywide educational/promotional campaign alerting citizens and city officials alike on New York’s Anti-Pesticide Ban while sharing healthy alternatives for home and municipal properties.
The Kingston Bluestone Festival – The Kingston Land Trust is a proud supporter.
Hudson Landing (Kingston) – The Kingston Land Trust has been involved with and remains committed to being a partner in creating an open space plan for this important project.
Ulster Manor (Town of Ulster) – The Kingston Land Trust remains committed to supporting and working with the Native American community and Town of Ulster stakeholders in preserving this significant Native American site and the adjoining wetland areas.
By Kingston Land Trust, on August 23rd, 2010%
Won’t you help us by making a contribution of any size?
The Kingston Land Trust hosts its first annual Harvest Moon Benefit Concert on Wednesday, September 22nd 2010.
Hudson Valley Residents will have a unique opportunity to enjoy performances by the city of Kingston’s youth while supporting an urban land trust. Sponsored in part by Chronogram Magazine and the Kingston Times.
The Kingston Land Trust will host their first annual Harvest Moon Benefit Concert presenting some of Kingston’s finest youth musicians that include POOK (the percussion orchestra of Kingston) and the Kingston High School Jazz Combo. The concert, which will benefit the Kingston Land Trust, will take place at Falcon Arts 1348 9W, Marlboro, New York on Wednesday, September 22nd.
“We wanted to find a premier venue in the Hudson Valley to showcase the young talent in Kingston,” Martin says. “The Falcon Arts hosts some of the finest musicians in the world. It’s a great location set on a water fall over-looking the Hudson River. Their dinner and drink menu is superb, adding to the certainty of a delightful and relaxing evening for all of our supporters”.
There is a $25 suggested donation at the door. Children 18 and under are free. Doors are at 6:00pm, showtime 7:00pm. Dinner and drinks are available at the venue and a silent auction will be held throughout the evening. Educational tables will be on hand of the many organizations or programs in the city of Kingston designed for our youth and families that include Kingston’s Citywide Neighborhood Watch group, Operation Frontline and the Forsyth Nature Center.
For more information, contact: Rebecca Martin, Executive Director at 845/877-LAND (5263) or kingstonlandtrust@gmail.com
About the Musicians:
The Kingston High School Jazz Combo:
The Kingston Schools Jazz Program is a comprehensive curriculum that serves to celebrate the art form through performance and creativity. Students at the middle and high school level experience the music through participation in big bands, combos and improvisation workshops. These students have many performance opportunities throughout the year including community and school concerts as well as the opportunity to work with some of the finest jazz players in the Hudson Valley at the annual Kingston Jazz Invitational. In recent years the premiere group, the KHS Jazz Ensemble, has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center as one of the finalist in the national Essentially Ellington competition and at the annual NYSSMA conference in Rochester. The program is currently under the direction of Dan Shaut and Michael Treat
POOK (the Percussion Orchestra of Kingston):
POOK, the Percussion Orchestra of Kingston, is a program of the Center of Creative Education located in Kingston, NY. It was founded in 1997 by three professional percussionists with a strong interest in education and youth development. Joakim Lartey, Ruben Quintero and Ev Mann come from three distinct cultural traditions but shared a love of drumming and of working with young people. They each brought a unique style to the group that shaped it profoundly and we are still performing material from that first summer. Members of POOK learn rhythms from all over the world that they then turn into unique arrangements of traditional material. More than one hundred area youngsters have taken part in the ensemble and the group has given concerts all over the region, including performances at West Point and Jacob’s Pillow.
About the Kingston Land Trust:
The Kingston Land Trust is a 501c3 non-profit organization committed to the protection and preservation of open space, historic sites, wetlands, scenic areas, and forests in the city of Kingston and the surrounding region to include the Town of Ulster and Town of Kingston.
By Kingston Land Trust, on August 20th, 2010%
By Kingston Land Trust, on July 19th, 2010%
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kingston Land Trust Announcement
July 19, 2010
Kingston Land Trust Names Rebecca Martin Executive Director
The Kingston Land Trust named community leader and board member Rebecca Martin executive director of the Kingston, N.Y.-based non-profit, effective immediately. Martin has stepped down from the board of directors of the trust and replaces Arthur Zaczkiewicz , who had served as interim executive director. Zaczkiewicz continues to work as the co-chair of the garden committee.
“As the Kingston Land Trust enters the next phase of its development, I can’t think of anyone better to lead, manage and organize the Kingston Land Trust than Rebecca Martin,” said Steve Noble, chairman and co-founder of the trust.
“Kingston has a rich inventory of public and open space, and it has immense potential in regard to connecting people to the outdoors,” Martin said. “So, I believe the Kingston Land Trust – which is an urban land trust – is well positioned to create exciting educational programs, work to preserve open space, and to continue its leadership role with community gardens. As executive director, I want to help residents rediscover Kingston’s uniqueness as an urban community set in a rural region.”
“Rebecca is an exceptional leader who possesses top-notch organizational skills, which will help take the Kingston Land Trust to its next level of growth,” said Zaczkiewicz, co-founder of the trust.
Martin’s duties will include, but not be limited to: creating a strategy to organize and build a support base for the trust of volunteers and donors; develop, update and enhance the trust’s website; develop a strategic plan for fundraising; and focus on public outreach as well as the trust’s mission.
Some of the Kingston Land Trust’s activities include: leading the creation of community gardens; installing an organic Victory Garden at Kingston City Hall; offering free seedlings to the community, which were grown by city youth; holding a Kingston Ward 9 visioning session as a way to re-imagine a portion of Broadway as a vibrant, sustainable community; launching a city-wide Victory Gardens program; helping feed hungry people via the creation of partnership that culled meat from a whitetail deer management program in the Shawangunks; working with other non profits and governmental agencies on open space planning, environmental and historic preservation matters in Kingston and the Town of Ulster; and helping organize a city-wide community garden coalition and regional school gardens. Noble and Zaczkiewicz both previously served as interim executive directors. The trust is a recognized 501c3 non-profit and is incorporated in New York State.
For more information or to interview Rebecca Martin or Steve Noble, contact the Kingston Land Trust at 845.877.5263 845.877.5263 or kingstonlandtrust@gmail.com.
About Rebecca Martin:
Rebecca Martin hails from the state of Maine, but now resides and raises her family in the City of Kingston since 2002. A professional musician, Rebecca has made seven critically acclaimed albums (currently signed to Sunnyside Records in New York City) and has performed internationally as well as in the U.S. at notable venues that include Carnegie Hall and The Village Vanguard. As a manager, Rebecca held positions at MTV Networks for many years prior to starting her own production company. As a community leader, she is founder of KingstonCitizens.org, an initiative that encourages civic responsibility and government transparency and accountability. Her recent endeavor, The Kingston Victory Garden Project, produced an organic garden at Kingston City Hall that was launched on Earth Day, 2009. Rebecca was the former chair of the garden committee through the Kingston Land Trust as well as a board member.
About the Kingston Land Trust:
The Kingston Land Trust is a 501c3 non-profit organization committed to the protection and preservation of open space, historic sites, wetlands, scenic areas, and forests in the City of Kingston and the surrounding region to include the Town of Ulster and the Town of Kingston.
The Mission of the Kingston Land Trust:
* Protect and preserve open space * Identify, acquire, hold, and manage, real property as well as employ conservation easements to real property in and around Kingston, N.Y.
* Work with local, state and federal agencies, municipalities and businesses in preserving, protecting and conserving open space, scenic areas, wetlands and historic sites in and around Kingston, N.Y.
* Work with community groups, schools, other non-profits and individuals to bolster the level of appreciation for open space and natural resources as well as the need for conservation efforts.
* Develop educational and outreach programs with the community that relate to the preservation of open space
* Help form and work with community groups involved in community gardens, preservation of parklands and recycling efforts in and around Kingston, N.Y.
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By Kingston Land Trust, on April 6th, 2010%
 Pia and Chloe in the thick of it. Students from the Woodstock Day School helped clean up the grounds at the historic Senate House recently as part of a community service program organized by the school and coordinated with the Kington Land Trust. Continue reading Student Volunteers Spring Clean Senate House Grounds
By Kingston Land Trust, on April 6th, 2010%
We’re pleased to announce a new fund raising program with the Hudson Valley Seed Library. Check out this note from Steve Noble: Continue reading Help the Kingston Land Trust by Buying Seeds
By Kingston Land Trust, on November 6th, 2009%
Mohonk Preserve and Kingston Land Trust partner to bring venison to families in need
Gardiner, New York, November 2009 – Thanks to a new collaboration between two land trusts, residents requiring food assistance will be in for a treat: fresh, wild venison. The source will be deer hunted across the Shawangunk Ridge, including at the Mohonk Preserve , Minnewaska State Park Preserve, and Sam’s Point Preserve. The Shawangunk Ridge Biodiversity Partnership’s deer management program allows regulated hunting to combat the negative ecological impacts of overbrowsing by deer. Continue reading Mohonk Preserve and The Kingston Land Trust Partner To Bring Venison To Families In Need
By Kingston Land Trust, on May 12th, 2009%
The Kingston Land Trust is on of 29 area non-profits selected to participate in a special organizational retreat at the Omega Institute Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, N.Y. The Omega In Service Grant allows key executives of the Kingston Land Trust to set goals and develop strategies in a relaxed yet focused setting. Continue reading Omega Grant Awarded to Kingston Land Trust
By Kingston Land Trust, on March 26th, 2009%
Check out this article about the Kingston Land Trust in the current issue of the Kingston Times.
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