Thanksgiving Tradition Continues in Putnam

Like all great traditions, the Thanksgiving Candlelight Service and Putnam County Historical Society Thanksgiving Dinner is older than most of its participants. Its institution is a tribute to the Pilgrim settlers who founded this country, and the form it takes honors the same Providence that rescued them from persecution and privation. Its continued practice also honors the Founding Fathers, who helped to establish an annual day of gratitude for constitutional government, liberty, and peace in our nation.

The Chapel of Our Lady Restoration on the rocky banks of the Hudson This year’s Candlelight Service will be held at the Chapel of Our Lady Restoration on Sunday, November 22. The PCHS annual dinner will follow at the Tavern at Highlands Country Club on Route 9D, in Garrison.

In 1959, under the auspices of the historical society, a small group of friends and family gathered to give thanks for family, friends, and good fortune. Soon, the service adopted the practice of reading the Thanksgiving proclamations of presidents past and present.

Alexandra Dow, harpist Mindy Krazmien, the executive director of the PCHS, noted that this service helps connect Putnam residents with their history. “It’s a very nice way to add a bit of spirituality to your Thanksgiving before the big dinner, and the football, and this service really grounds you in the original meaning of Thanksgiving,” Krazmien said.

Just one such proclamation suffices to call us back to that great American tradition. George Washington, in his second Thanksgiving address, asked the people of the United States to put down their work for one day, and “to meet together and render their sincere and hearty thanks to the Great Ruler of Nations for the manifold and signal mercies which distinguish our lot as a nation, particularly for the possession of constitutions of government which united and by their union establish liberty with order; for the preservation of our peace, foreign and domestic.”

Shortly after the Historical Society established its Candlelight Service, it added its own annual dinner, inviting members of the community to dine together on traditional Thanksgiving fare. The annual feast started as a humble “potluck” affair. “Everyone contributed something,” Krazmien said, “and it was a chance to express thanks for good things, as a community.” In that respect it was not too different from the first Thanksgiving of the Pilgrims.

Putnam is lucky to have such a wellestablished and meaningful community event for Thanksgiving. “I hadn’t heard of anything like it,” Krazmien said of the first time she experienced the Candlelight Service and Dinner. “We had just moved up from Queens, and as an outsider I found it to be such a warm, social, traditional event, and it gave me a taste of what living in Philipstown and Putnam County is all about. I was very touched.”

The non-denominational Thanksgiving service has rotated from one chapel to another over the years. This year, it will be held at the historic Chapel of Our Lady Restoration in Cold Spring and will be led by Rev. Leslie Mott, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Philipstown. Terry Platz, a local musician, will lead a series of traditional hymns, while Elizabeth Ailes, publisher of the COURIER, will accompany her on organ. Alexandra Dow, harpist, daughter of Garrison residents Suzanne and Rodney Dow and freshman at The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, will perform the prelude. Tess Dul, a violinist since nursery school and now a junior at Haldane High School, will perform the postlude. She is the daughter of Nelsonville residents Mitch and Amy Dul.

From its humble beginnings, the PCHS Thanksgiving Dinner has grown into one of the most anticipated social events in Putnam County. “For some, it’s the only event they come to all year,” Krazmien said.

In another tradition, the PCHS will award Lori and Jim Ely, owners of Riverview Restaurant in Cold Spring, its Elizabeth Todd Healy Volunteer Service Award at their dinner. “The Elys’ long tradition of generosity to the people and institutions of Philipstown is well known throughout the community,” said Neal Zuckerman, president of the PCHS board of trustees.

Jim Ely’s family moved to Cold Spring in 1962. He and his wife bought Riverview in 1989, and have been benefactors of many worthy causes in Philipstown ever since. The namesake of the award, Elizabeth Todd Healy, was an active member of the historical society for decades. The PCHS created the award to honor her, and the people who have been important to the community at large.

The Putnam County Historical Society was founded in 1906 by a group of prominent Philipstown residents, and soon afterward was designated as the first historical society in Putnam County. The Historical Society spent its early resources documenting the history of local families and civil war veterans. Since then, it has grown to include the Foundry School Museum and a library to preserve and showcase historical materials to the public. With its annual organization of the Thanksgiving Candlelight Service and Dinner, the PCHS is keeping that history alive in the hearts of Putnam County.

At the PCHS Thanksgiving dinner at the Tavern, cocktails will be served at 6:15pm and dinner begins at 7pm. Tickets are available for $75 each, $800 for a table of 10. Admittance to the chapel service is free of charge.

—Michael Brendan Dougherty,

for the COURIER