Local photographer Geoff Welch recently captured a clip of a Red Tailed Hawk keeping watch for prey from a tree on Liberty Rock in Sloatsburg.

Dig around in your basement or attic and bring your junk to Harmony Hall on Saturday, April 27, to see if it just might be treasure. Join renowned appraiser, author and conservator Kenneth Jay Linsner for another edition of Got Treasure? from  2 p.m. — 5 p.m. at the Jacob Sloat House in Sloatsburg, NY.

President of the Appraisal Services Group of New York City and board member of the Friends of Harmony Hall, Linsner has traveled the world to appraise treasurers. He has an eye for detail and lifetime of field work that’s key to accurate evaluations.

Harmony Hall is the original name for the Jacob Sloat House, designed and built by Sloat back in 1848 as an example of Greek Revival style of architecture popular in the early Victorian period. The restoration project is intended to capture the period from 1848 to 1908.

Got Treasure? is sponsored by the Friends of Harmony Hall, a non-profit member organization that works behind the scenes to promote and renovate Harmony Hall.

So, come on down Saturday, where Ken Linsner and company may just see something amazing, left to you from your dear old Auntie Mame.

The Suffern High School Select Choir recently visited the Sloatsburg Senior Center for an afternoon of caroling. Composed of select students, the choir is led by Suffern music teacher Debrah Phelps, who took the group throughout the community to perform their magic this holiday season, including appearances at the annual tree lighting ceremonies of all three local villages — Suffern, Hillburn and Sloatsburg.

During their appearance, the students entered the Senior Center  practically breaking out in song and finished with a rousing round of We Wish You A Merry Christmas. The choir then descended on the buffet table ladened with cookies and brownies and other assorted sweets and breezed back out the door they came in, paper plates stacked high with desserts, and leaving the hall in very merry holiday spirits.

A look back at this year’s Highlands Bluegrass Festival, presented annually by the Town of Ramapo and the Friends of Harmony Hall~Jacob Sloat House. The event has helped to put Sloatsburg on the musical map as a late summer music festival destination. In addition to the music and crafts, the festival features a variety of children’s amusements, raffles, great food, and historic house tours.

This year’s festival welcomed renowned bluegrass fiddler Sue Cunningham and her band. Mama Tried, a popular progressive bluegrass band, shared this year’s stage.

“The Bluegrass Festival is a tremendous achievement that puts our community in the most positive light,” said Sloatsburg Mayor Carl Wright. “It has always been our hope that Harmony Hall would become a showcase west of the Hudson River for local history.”

Darrell Frasier and Stephen Hoefer, from Sloatsburg, have moved their popular weekend yard sales indoors in a big way. They just renovated a two-story store at 215 Rt. 17 in the heart of Tuxedo and opened BackHome Antiques. Their new place invites a leisurely walk through and is filled with all sorts of collectibles and curiosities, priced just right to tempt most anyone to buy something.

Have you ever wondered whether you might have ‘cash in your attic’ or a valuable item buried in plain sight? Well, renowned appraiser, author and conservator Kenneth Jay Linsner will be at Harmony Hall in Sloatsburg, New York on April 15 to provide you with an answer. Join Linsner from 2 p.m. — 5 p.m. at the Jacob Sloat House.

Linsner is president of the Arts Services International Group as well as a recent past president of the New York Chapter of the American Society of Appraisers.

Torne Mountain Brush Fire — With dry windy conditions, brush fires are breaking out throughout Harriman State Park, NY and the tri-state area. On Easter Sunday, April 8, the Sloatsburg Fire Department dispatched on a mutual aid call when smoke plumes were seen billowing above Torne Mountain. NY State Park Rangers eventually put out the blaze, which scorched Torne’s eastern ledge.