I arrived at my country home in time to hear the second Callicoon Center Band concert on Wednesday, August 11. Concerts were held in the Barn [1] at Callicoon Hills in Callicoon Center on every Wednesday at 8PM during the month of August. During the month of July the band rehearsed and that really paid off because they not only skillfully played some old favorites but a few new ones. Led by Jim Newton they all sounded top notch. I will be leaving today (Wednesday, Aug. 25) from my home in River Edge, N.J. for a barbecue at Hills. A portion of all tickets sold will be donated to the band. Following the barbecue will be the last concert of the season.

I also attended two concerts at the Shandelee Music Festival.

The first was on Tuesday night, August 17 featuring a piano soloist, Steven Lin, who was the best I ever heard. It was almost as if he was playing with four hands instead of two. At the age of 10 Steven was accepted by the Julliard School on a full scholarship. At 13 he played with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Since then he has played at famous concert halls all over the world and has won many competitions.

The second one was on Saturday, August 21, featuring the Aletheia Piano Trio. Fei- Fei was the pianist, Francesca DePasquale on the violin and Juliette Herlin on the cello. They gave a dramatic performance of pieces by Beethoven, Schumann and Dvorak. The young trio was formed in 2013 at the Julliard School and has played at many venues in this country and as individuals worldwide.

Daniel Stroup, the president of the Shandelee Music Festival, started all of that 35 years ago and at first the concerts were held in a tent. Dan has been staying right on the Shandelee Music Festival premises for the last 18 months due to the pandemic. He's been teaching piano at the United Nations International School in New York City and four choirs in high school and middle school which are connected to that school. He hopes to be back teaching in September.

Besides all that I ate at Callicoon Hills so many times that the waitresses knew what I was about to order which was the shrimp roll with salad and a glass of red wine. One evening two cute little dogs showed up on the deck. They brought three people with them, who were very well behaved.

I also attended my high school reunion at the Riverside in Roscoe. We graduated in 1951 which is 70 years ago, but I can't say it was our 70th reunion because we skipped a few years. We now hold one every year. We also invite the class of 1952 because, for obvious reasons, we are running out of people. There are six of us still alive but not all kicking. There were 17 of us including guests. Next year we plan to meet again.