Manor Ink March 2021

12 | MAR. 2021 | MANOR INK NEWS
LION OF A RAFFLE
Benefactor’s big donation
restarts CAS expansion
Delayed 2nd floor upgrade now to begin
By Nicholas Warren | Manor Ink
QUILTING FOR A CAUSE The Tri-Valley Lions will hold a fundraising raffle for a beautiful
quilt donated by Sally Abrams, president of the Calico Geese Quilters group, which has 45
talented members and meets at the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Ferndale. The quilt,
held by Abrams and Gene Froehlich, a director of the Lions, is a 60-by-70-inch bed topper.
“I hope that everyone opens their hearts and wallets to support the Tri-Valley Lions,” she
said. The drawing will beheld on June 1, and participants need not be present to win.
Raffle tickets are $5 for a single ticket or $10 for three. Tickets are available from Froehlich
at 439-4921, Mary Lou Vernooy at 434-7781 or from Terry Delaney at 434-8696. All funds
raised go to support Guiding Eyes for the Blind, Cancer Awareness, five local food pantries,
eye tests and many more causes. Tri-Valley Lions photo
Livingston Manor, NY – After delays
due to the pandemic, the Catskill Art Society
is now ready to move forward with
its second floor expansion, and to make
improvements to its Main Street location’s
front facade, gallery windows and studio
space.
The building, which had been a movie
theater until the 1970s, was purchased by
CAS in 2008 and, according
to Sally Wright, Executive
Director, “CAS has always
had aspirations to expand
into the second floor.” The
second floor expansion will
add 2,000 square feet to the
building and make its 4,000
Sally Wright
square feet of open space the largest in the
Manor.
Plans had been developed more than
two years ago, but the project was put on
hold due to the COVID-19 outbreak and
the state’s budget crisis, as Albany’s support
for arts programs was suspended last
year. This suspension included a state grant
NEW LOOK A rendering of the modified
facade of the Catskill Art Society building after
its planned expansion. CAS illustration
that Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther had
helped procure to aid in the CAS construction.
Recently, a loyal benefactor of CAS
agreed to make a large donation to replace
the state grant, enabling the project to proceed.
“We are quite grateful for this momentous
gift that allows us now to move forward,”
Wright said.
The new second floor will contain a
large gallery/exhibit space in the front and
a multi-purpose room in the back for lec-