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Mid Hudson Times, Wednesday, December 9, 2015
IN THIS ISSUE
Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
City of Newburgh.. . . . . . . . . . . 22
Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Crossword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . 8
Meadow Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Town of Newburgh. . . . . . . . . . . 23
Newburgh Heritage. . . . . . . . . . . 10
New Windsor.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Police Blotter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Service Directory. . . . . . . . . . . 38
Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
PUBLIC AGENDA
WEDNESDAY, DEC. 9
City of Newburgh Board of Ethics.
6:30 p.m. Council Chambers located on
the third floor of City Hall, 83 Broadway.
Newburgh Distressed Property task
Force. 7 p.m. Newburgh Free Library,
BOE Meeting Room, 124 Grand Street,
Newburgh
THURSDAY, DEC. 10
Newburgh City Council. Work session. 6 p.m. City Council Chambers, 3rd
floor, City Hall located at 83 Broadway.
MONDAY, DEC. 14
Newburgh City Council meeting. 7
p.m. City Council Chambers, 3rd floor,
City Hall located at 83 Broadway.
Light and hope celebrated at Downing Park
By SHANTAL RILEY
[email protected]
T
hey stood together, sang softly and
spoke of peace of Earth, their breath
illuminated by candles they held
close to their hearts.
It was the first night of Hanukkah and
the community marked the occasion at
the Celebration of Light and Hope, an early-evening gathering that saw the lighting
of both a menorah and a Christmas tree
next to twinkling Polly Pond.
Held at the park shelter house and
visitor center, the old-fashioned holiday
gathering was equal parts song, sermon
and hot chocolate.
“Both Hanukkah and Christmas celebrate the power of light to illuminate
the darkness and the power of hope to
overcome despair,” said Downing Park
Planning Committee member Tony
Sculley.
Temple Beth Jacob’s Rabbi Larry
Freedman spoke about the origin of the
Hanukkah celebration. “The short story
is that in 164 BCE there was a battle,”
Freedman said, which lasted three years.
“The Jews were in the land of Israel fighting back against the Assyrian Greeks.”
“The Assyrian Greeks had a bunch
of laws that basically said, ‘You can’t be
Jews anymore. You can’t pray the way
Molly Murphy holds a candle at the Celebration of Light and Hope held at Downing Park
on Sunday.
you want to pray. You can