Halloween, November will be busy time for events

By Jeanne Tao

The Haldane School PTA met on Thursday, Oct. 18, getting through regular business before PLAY Haldane’s presentation lengthened into a discussion on the safety of the proposed artificial-turf field.

Finances and fundraising

TA President Laura Danilov speaks at the Oct. 18 meeting, as PLAY Haldane Co-Chair Dan Hughes, PTA Elementary Vice President Evelyn Carr-White and PTA Secretary Beth Shanahan listen. Photo by J. Tao

The PTA voted to accept their 2012-13 budget and presented on fundraising initiatives. While they are not offering coupon books this year, the PTA hopes that sales of the game Philipstownopoly, a Monopoly-like game with a local spin, will be successful. Proceeds from the sales benefit both the Haldane and Garrison school districts. The games can still be ordered at $25 per game at either school’s PTA website: haldanepta.org or gufspta.org.

Every November, the PTA holds a Barnes & Noble Pajama Party and Book Fair as a fundraiser, with teachers and administrators dressing in pajamas to read stories and conduct other activities such as a scavenger hunt. A percentage of all book sales on that day will go to the Haldane PTA. This year, the event will take place at the Mohegan Lake Barnes & Noble located at Cortlandt Town Center on Friday, Nov. 30.

Another convenient way to contribute to the PTA is by using their website link to amazon.com. A percentage of any amazon.com purchases made via the PTA’s link go to the PTA. The amazon.com link can be found on the PTA website homepage at haldanepta.org.

National arts contest

Reflections, a national PTA program, is an arts contest for children in the six categories of literature, visual arts, dance choreography, photography, musical composition, and film production. Children should submit works by the Nov. 28 deadline to compete in the local contest. Local winners can then move on to compete regionally, statewide and nationally.

Reflections Chair Debbie Howland still needs a co-chair to help publicize the arts contest. Please contact the PTA for more information.

Halloween candy drive

Every Halloween, over a thousand children go trick-or-treating on Parrott Street in Cold Spring. For the past eight years, the PTA has collected candy donations to be handed out there. This year they are accepting donations of individually wrapped candy, preferably nut-free, in boxes at Foodtown and on the porch at 25 Mountain Ave. (across from the elementary roadway).

Elementary and Middle School Principal Brent Harrington announced that communication will be going out soon regarding Halloween celebrations, which are slated to take place at school.

Behind The Story

Type: News

News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.

Tao is a freelance journalist and former editor at The Current.