Little Chapel on the River

Please join me in supporting Kelly Guinan Preusser and her husband Ed Preusser as they make their way on bicycles from Boston to New York on Sept. 16-18 as part of "Braking the Cycle" in honor of Kelly's late father, John Guinan. Any $$ amount will help them raise their ambitious goal. Time is running short! Here is the link to donate. Many of you have supported this endeavor in the past by donating to me, or to other members of Team Guinan . I cannot ride this year, but hope that everyone who can give, will put their support toward Ed & Kelly's goal. This ride was extremely important to John and to his wife Mary Jane. Thanks to all who have and continue to honor John with their generous gifts.

Candace Coates , the "Highland Harper," will play at Paula's Stone Cottage Wine Bar in June. Candace reports that the building was home to the Bloggett Memorial Library in the 1960's. Since then, she says, it has been a lawyer's office, and two beauty salons before becoming the wine bar. Date: Sunday, June 12, 2011 Time : 2 p.m. - 5 p.m. Address : 2 Broad Street/1158 Main St. Fishkill, N.Y. Phone : (845) 896-9563 (896-WINE)

Many belated thanks to the Berkshire Book Club in Boston for reading Little Chapel on the River for their book club. I recently spoke to the club by telephone during their meeting - you all were terrific! Always surprises me that readers still come up with new questions about the book, and BBC did not disappoint. Back row L-R Amy, Danielle, Annie, Nuala, Becky, Tara. Front row - Jennifer, Kelley, kaitlin, Liz. (Lynne and Kris are not pictured).

UPDATE: 1/29/2011 - Spoke to a couple of people directly involved in the renovations who say the pub structure will remain in place, though it will require some renovations, shoring up, etc. That's great news. Hope this plan remains in place. Heard today that the owners of #7 Garrison's Landing may be planning to dismantle what for many was the heart of Guinan's - the green pub in back - when they renovate the building into office space. Don't know if it's true, but if so, this breaks my heart. Surely there are alternatives that could respect the history of this institution, and the people who loved and cared for it, while still making needed structural changes?

As the Garrison Station Plaza group, which owns the old Guinan's building, makes preparations to convert it into primarily office space, Garrison resident Mary Ellen Yannitelli has sent a letter to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation requesting they reject the project on the grounds that such a conversion will have a substantial impact on the environment and character of the surrounding area. Mary Ellen asks that anyone supporting the effort to keep Guinan's old building as a pub, cafe, restaurant or other public gathering spot also email or mail NYDEC by Dec. 24th and says her letter may be used as a template . Here's who to direct it to: Joseph R Murray NYSDEC Region 3 Headquarters 21 South Putt Corners Rd New Paltz, NY 12561 (845)256-3054 r3dep@gw.dec.state.ny.us In her letter, Mary Ellen calls into question specific "no" answers provided by Garrison Station Plaza in its application to change the building's purpose: 19. Will Prop...

Here is an update on one of my favorite readers - a young man named Brad Hoelscher III who I met while he was still a West Point cadet. He wrote an email to me in 2005 after reading Little Chapel, and came to Guinan's for his first "legal" beer after turning 21. He was also quoted in the New York Times about religion and the military. "Cadet Brad" is now "Lt Brad," and he left about a month ago for deployment in Afghanistan. Between graduation and deployment, he was married to Aleece Mihok . I asked Lt. Brad's father - also a West Point graduate, also named Brad - for an update and he wrote this on Halloween: "Lt Brad left 27 days ago from Ft Polk LA, arrived in Manas, Kyrgyzstan on 7 Oct, spent a few days waiting for lift to Bagram AF in Afghanistan, making his way through Logar Province, finally making the final 15 miles from Altimur to COP Kherwar by road convoy in 9.5hrs!!??on Thursday afternoon, 14 Oct. LT Brad is in the advanced bat...

This is a recent email and photo, reprinted with permission from Jim Donnery , one of Guinan's regular parishioners and the man who inspired the name of the book: "Little Chapel on the River." The shot here is where the old bar and Coca-Cola beer cooler once stood. The proposal to create a new restaurant and store in the spot where Guinan's once operated was turned down by the board of the Garrison Station Plaza based on what it said was inadequate financing for the project. The board is planning to move ahead with renovations to include office space. From Jim Donnery: "I had been home this past weekend to attend a funeral for a family member and had some time for goofing off before a dinner engagement in Cold Spring, so I bought a few beers and went down to sit on the rocks by the Boat Club to admire the sun setting on "the river that flows both ways". Old memories brought me over to the Chapel entrance and I peeked inside the front door past the plyw...